The Summer it Happened All Over Again
by TheTransfiguredCanary
Summary: Follow the Pines-Corderoy twins as they're sent to their mysterious Grunkle's place in the woods. Together the pair move passed their differences as they find out the truth about their Grunkle's hidden past and fight through all the weirdness that Gravity Falls has to offer. Finale to the Return to Gravity Falls series. Sequel to The Pine Tree Incident
1. Prologue

Prologue

Srehpic eht wollof

Llaf s'remmus tsrif eht fo

Ni dnats yeht swodahs eht era krad

Llac serutuf eht lilts rekrad

* * *

It started the summer we turned eleven.

Our parents started to fight.

At first it was just little things.

Until it wasn't anymore.

And by the time we were thirteen… they weren't together anymore…

And caught in the middle were my sister and I…

My uncle says our story is just like one that has happened before. He says is almost like our lives were theirs in reverse.

I'm not sure how a feel about that… I suppose I should explain.

It all started when our parents had decided to send away. They shipped us to the northwest to a sleepy town called Gravity Falls, Oregon, to stay at our great-uncle's place in the woods…

* * *

Two auburn haired twins sat at the back of a bus. They had each taken the window seat and ignored each other. One was typing away at her phone oblivious to the scenery flashing by her. Across the way the other would glance out the window before he buried how nose into a thick book and scribbled out what ever had come to his mind. There was silence save for the hum of the bus. After a while the girl groaned.

"Hashtag worst summer ever." she grumbled. The boy threw her a dirty look and scribbled in his book some more. "why do we have to go to some hick town anyways? Why can't we go to some resort or something? I mean come on! We're loaded! We shouldn't-"

"Are you going to complain all summer?" the boy asked angrily. The girl glared at him.

"Just scribble in your book ink nose!"

"At least my thumbs won't be crippled by the time I'm twenty." the boy mute red darkly.

"At least I'll have a life!" the girl shouted back.

"Why you!" the boy cried before he leapt across the bus and pulled on the girls hair. The pair wrestled for a few seconds before the bus driver shouted over the PA.

"Oh for! Will you two cut it out! That's the fourth time in ten minutes! Just sit in your seats and mind your own business!"

The two did move to the opposite end of the Benches but continued to glare at each other across the space. After a while the boy stuck his nose back into his book and the girl went back to her phone. Suddenly her phone blipped and the screen cut to an image of empty service bars. The girl tapped the screen in horror.

"No! No no no!" the screen did not change. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" she cried in pain. Her brother snickered at her from across the Bench. The girl glared at him like it was somehow his fault entirely.

"Snicker again and the next cliff we drive passed I'm tossing that out the window." she threatened. The boy clutched the book to his chest defensively and glared. The girl rolled her eyes. "Calm down nerd, I won't take your precious diary."

"It's a journal!" the boy said angrily. The girl snorted.

"If you care about it such maybe you should marry it." she offered with a smirk. The boy scowled.

"At least I'm smart enough to have one. You don't even have a brain of your own any more you care so much what Clarisse Tambron says." the boy snapped. The girl blushed angrily.

"Yes I do." she said angrily. The boy said nothing as he went back into his book. The pair continued to ignore each other as the bus drove down the road after a few minutes they drove passed a cliff and the boy looked up. There was the Gravity Falls water tower. He stared at it for a few seconds before he quickly sketched it into his journal. Slowly the pines rose until the towered above the buss. After a while the bus slowed to a halt. The girl dashed out of the bus, phone held in the air. She rushed outside passed the gray haired tall woman and jumped onto a stump holding her phone up. Finally the phone blipped again. The girl sighed.

"Thank god." She murmured in relief before she returned to tapping away. The woman stared before she turned to the boy as he stepped out of the bus with a pencil behind his ear. He pushed his glasses into place and surveyed her for a few seconds.

"Hey there." She said with a smile. The boy didn't respond but scribbled away in his journal. The girl walked over, not looking up from her phone screen.

"So who are you anyways?" she asked. The elderly woman frowned.

"I'm your great aunt… I saw you at the family reunion a few years ago… don't you remember me?"

"No." the girl said without a glance. The woman stared at them in shock.

"We tend to forget that whole disaster." The boy muttered, speaking for a first time. The woman thought back. She remembered the fight, the screaming and finally the storming off and reasoned perhaps that was a good thing.

"Well… your Grunkle asked me to pick you up. It's just a hike through the woods away…"

"Grunkle? What does that even mean?" the girl asked with a scoff.

"its short for great uncle." The woman said.

"Oh… its lame." The girl said snootily before she walked into the woods. The elderly woman made a face.

"Is she always likes that?" she asked no one in particular.

"Yes." The boy replied with an annoyed air as he still scribbled into his journal.

"Hey Tambry two! The Mystery Shack is this way!" the woman called after the oblivious child.

"Mystery Shack?" the boy asked looking up for the first time in minutes with a curious face.

"It's a tourist trap your Grunkle runs, it's a family business, your cousin works there. He lives with me… his parent died in a car accident when he was just a kid." The woman said to the two that once again were no longer paying attention. She sighed before she led the two through the tower pines. Finally the trio arrived at the tall building.

"This is where we're staying… it looks like it's gonna collapse… is it safe?" the girl asked with a snooty air

"Course it's safe! Oh hey! That old guy is the handyman. Just call him McGucket, everybody does." The woman said waving for the old man.

"Hey Wendy ! What brings ya here?" the tall grey haired bearded man asked with a smile and a wave.

"Just picking up the kids for Dipper." The woman said motioning to the two kids that once again here typing away and scribbling respectively. The old man chuckled.

"well howdy do there? Hadron McGucket! Pleasure to be meeting ya!" he cried holding out his hand. The girl shook it quickly still looking at her phone. The boy just nodded. The old man chuckled weakly before motioning to the building.

"Dipper's still guiding a tour; you should swing by the shop and introduce them to Benjamin. I'm sure they'd like ta talk to somebody their own age." The old man said before he walked away. The woman nodded.

"This way to the gift shop, it's connected to the house so well just walk through after you meet Ben." The woman said before she entered. She walked over to the counter and frowned, putting her hands on her hips. In the chair behind the counter was a lanky teen where a red button up shirt. He was leaning back in the chair fast asleep. "Ben…Ben!… BENJAMIN!"

"AH! I'M AWAKE!" he said slamming his hands down on the counter. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"I can see that… anyways, Ben! meet your cousins!" The woman said motioning to the two kids. Her raised arms dropped to her sides when she realized that once again the children weren't paying attention. The red head teen raised an eyebrow but looked at them with a smile.

"hey there little dudes!" he said with a grin.

"hey." The girl murmured.

"hello." The boy said absent mindedly. With that they left the gift shop much to the teen and woman astonishment. The teen looked after them for a bit before he shrugged ad leaned back into his seat. The woman just growled a bit and marched after them. She stood in the living room doorway in astonishment. The girl was lounging on the sofa, engrossed in her phone. The boy was sitting at the poker table scribbling away. She cleared her throat and still they did nothing. She threw her arms up in frustration and stomped through the living room to the kitchen with a harsh frown. The two were unfazed. They were oblivious to everything around them that was until a shadow loomed over the boy's journal. The boy looked up and jumped. From the position the tall man was standing in relative to the light over head only his silhouette was visible. The man took a step back and the boy surveyed him in full. He was tall with grey hair and brown tweed jacket with elbow pads. He looked a bit like their Gran-Gran actually.

"Hey there kids! Sorry I couldn't pick you up, busy with tours and such." He cried with a smile and deep baritone voice. The boy looked him up and down before he scribbled away.

"who are you?" the girl asked, not looking up from her phone. The man frowned.

"It's me! I met you a few years ago! Grunkle Dipper! Remember?" the man asked, looking at them in distress. The older woman from before spoke up from the other doorway.

"Don't take it personally Dipper, they didn't remember me either." The woman said. The man let out an uneasy laugh.

"oh well… its fine then… I guess." He said with a slight frown. "I'll show you to your room… it's just upstairs."

"Wait wait! Back it up a bit! Did you say room? as in just one?" the girl asked in horror. The man frowned.

"Yes… I don't have the space for you to have separate bedrooms." He admitted. The girl made a face of horror.

"I HAVE TO SHARE WITH THIS NERDY NIGHTMARE?! NO WAY!" she shouted angrily.

"PSH! MORE LIKE I HAVE TO SHARE WITH YOU!" the boy cried.

"He's all sweaty and gross!"

"You're gross! With your make up and your hair stuff!"

"At least I'm not a walking disease! I take care of myself!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"That you're gross AND ugly!"

"ENOUGH!" the man cried harshly. Both the children fell silent. The man was staring between the two in shock. the pair looked furiously between each other. "you're just like them aren't you…" he said with a slight sigh."look, I don't have the space, you'll have to share, there's nothing I can do about it." The man insisted before he led the way up to the attic. Once at the top he led them across a wide room to the single door on the far wall. Inside the room were two beds opposite each other.

"Dibs!" the pair cried running to opposite sides of the room. the girl instantly started organizing her wardrobe. The boy simply dumped a large pile of pens on the bedside table. The man looked between the pair and smiled.

"Is everything alright then?"

"I want a sign!" the both cried. They glared at each other even as the man laughed. He disappeared for a few minutes as the pair continued to unpack their various articles. Suddenly there was a banging outside their door. The pair rushed out to see what was wrong. The man smiled before he motioned for them to step out of the room. he hung a sign on the nailed he'd just put on the door.

"and? What do you think?" he asked the pair. They both surveyed it. The girl rolled her eyes and scoff.

"it's fine… I guess." She said before returning to her phone. The boy shrugged.

"it'll work." He said before scribbling away in his journal. The man ruffled both their hair and disappeared downstairs.

"Dinner is in five!" he called.

"coming!" the twins cried simultaneously, glaring at each other after. With that they left their unpacking for later. There on the door sign read their names…

 _Ford + Patricia_

* * *

...modeerf hcum oot mih evig I... tib a rof yadiloh no tnew meht rof retirw eht ,emit siht rehpic on yrroS


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ford looked up and glared out his window as Grunkle Dipper strung some tale for the hapless tourists.

"There's something not right about this place." He muttered again for the tenth time in half as many minutes. Beside him Patricia groaned.

"Ugh! And you said I complained too much. There's nothing weird about this place except you!" she said snootily typing away. Ford turned to her with a growl.

"I'm telling you there is something going on in this place. This morning there was a scarlet tanager outside the window!" Ford said as if it was something catastrophic. Patricia stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"Scarlet tanagers are only found in the south east near Florida and Cuba! What is a flock of them doing in Gravity Falls?" Ford shouted throwing his arms up in frustration. Patricia smirked and snapped a picture. Ford looked at her with a glare.

"Post that and die." he sneered. Patricia looked him in the eye and tapped send all. Ford's eye twitched before he lunged at her. She screamed and dashed out of the door. Ford slammed it behind him as he chased after her.

"GRUNKLE DIPPER!" they both shouted in anger.

* * *

Ford glared at the wall while Patricia sneered at the corner.

"We're not five." She muttered even as their angry uncle was standing in the middle of the room with a frown.

"Start acting like you're not and I'll treat you as such. I have a tour to guide. Stay in those spots until I get back. That's the first way to prove your maturity." Dipper grumbled before he walked back into the gift shop. Ford and patria both groaned.

"I'm telling you Ford. There's nothing going on in this town… you did this in Washington too! You were convinced the bell hop was a vampire." Patricia said with a sneer.

"Oh come on! Nobody is that pale! And the wine looked like blood! It was an accident!" Ford complained. Patricia banged her head into the wall. After a few seconds she snickered. "What?" Ford snapped.

"I just remembered the whole thing. You threw garlic cloves at him. He started shouting and we got dragged out of ballroom… it was kind of hilarious." Patricia admitted. She continued giggling and after a bit Ford snickered too. Grunkle Dipper walked back into the room with a grumble.

"The tour was cancelled. I hate it when people cancel last minute like that. But I stand by the mystery shack policy. So what if she's mad. It's clearly posted over the door. No refunds!" Dipper growled. Both tweens were just staring at the wall waiting. "I suppose you did what I asked… feel free to spend the day however you like… just please, try not to kill, maim, or physically hurt one another. I'd never hear the end of it from Mabel." Dipper said with a hand on his face. Both children rushed out of the house through the gift shop.

"Yes! Time to chat up the teens!" Patricia cried before she rushed for the golf cart. Before she could get in Ford grabbed her wrist.

"Come on! You can talk to the teenagers later! Right now I'm gonna prove to you that there is something off about this place!" Ford insisted before he dragged Patricia into the words.

"Uuugggghhh! Boring! Somebody help I'm being kidnapped by my nerdy paranoid brother!" Patricia cried out to nobody as Ford dragged her into the woods.

"Come on! We could use a hike! It'll be nice to see the sights!" Ford insisted. Patricia just pulled out her phone and followed him. They walked through the woods for what seemed like hours. Ford was growing more and more frustrated as nothing out of the ordinary presented itself. After a few more minutes he sighed in defeat. "You know maybe you're right… maybe I am just paranoid…"

"Glory above! He actually listens!" Patricia said walking over to a nearby fallen tree. She pulled a sandwich out of her pocket. As Ford watched her open it he realized he'd been so focused on proving Patricia wrong he hadn't grabbed a lunch. His stomach growled and looked at Patricia longingly she scoffed and stuck her nose into the air. "Payback. You dragged me through the woods for no good reason. You're not gonna starve." Patricia said with a condescending air. With that she went to take a bite. Suddenly out of the bushes jumped what appeared to be a small bearded man. It was snarling and clawing at Patricia for her sandwich. "FORD!" she screamed.

"LEAVE MY SISTER BE!" Ford cried before he swept his foot across and punted the creature into the forest. "Wow… soccer camp really paid off." Ford commented with a weak chuckle. Patricia stood beside him with wide eyes.

"What was that thing?"

"I have no idea." Ford said reaching for his journal to write down what he saw. "Lucky there was only one." He commented as he scribbled down what he remembered. Patricia tapped him on the shoulder. "What?" he asked. She motioned to the forest. There where at least a dozen little men stranding at the clearing edge glaring at them. "Oh." Ford said lamely. The creature from before stood on a rock.

"There they are! Get em!" he cried.

"Damn." Ford commented with deadpan. Patricia dragged him as she ran.

"Come on!" she cried even as the pair rushed through the forest evading the tiny creatures as they jumped at them with sharp fangs. Ford laughed a bit.

"Hey! On the upside you can't say there isn't anything weird going on in gravity falls!" he commented. Patricia glared at him.

"Now is not the time!" she shouted even as a particularly good jumper lunged at Patricia's bag. Ford punched it off as they dashed through another clearing. As they were running Patricia lifted her phone.

"Oh come on! Now! What are you doing?!" Ford asked in anger.

"Taking a selfie!" Patricia cried. After a few seconds she snapped a few pictures. "There!" she cried as they continued to run

"For the last time ma'am no refunds! Go home!" Dipper shouted at the woman who was standing on the front steps of the mystery shack.

"I paid two hundred dollars for this birthday party! I'm not leaving till I at least get the cake I was promised!" the woman shouted. Dipper put a hand over his face.

"Oh for the love of-" Suddenly he and the woman turned towards the forest where they could hear screaming.

"GRUNKLE DIPPER!" Patricia screamed as she and Ford rushed out of the forest. Dipper gaped as they ran passed with a small crowd of gnomes behind them. Dipper frowned harshly and picked up the leaf blower he kept by the steps to clear them off. With that he dashed the other way around the mystery shack. Ford and Patricia met up with him at the gift shop entrance.

"Inside!" he shouted. The twins rushed in before Dipper stood in front of the door. He brandished his leaf blower and sneered at the creatures. "Stand back! I have a leaf blower and I'm not afraid to use it!" the gnome that had attacked Patricia stepped forward snarling.

"I'm not afraid of your human tools." Dipper smirked and raised an eyebrow. With a flick of the switch the gnome was sucked into the leaf blower. The other gnomes all squealed and dashed for the forest. Dipper kneeled down, one eye closed as he aimed for the small crowd of fleeing creatures.

"You should be." He muttered before he switched the leaf blow to out and the gnome rocketed out and slammed into the crowd of little men. They all scattered into a huge pile before they disappeared deeper into the forest. "Ha ha Strike!" Dipper cried as he stood before he laughed a bit and entered the gift shop. Ford, Patricia, and Ben were staring at him in shock.

"Whoa Mr. Pines… that was awesome!" Ben cried. Dipper blinked a bit. Ford and Patricia were staring at him with something akin to admiration before Patricia looked behinds him at the door.

"What were those things?" she asked. Dipper laughed.

"Gnomes. They're not usually all that violent. But I have a feeling they've started stock piling for winter early. We're probably going to have quite a cold one this year. They tend to get a bit cranky when they're hungry." Dipper said before he knelt down in front of the pair with a grave face. "This town is filled with many wonderful and strange things. Some of them are interesting but other can be dangerous. I want you to be extra careful when you go out. If anything were to happen to you…" Dipper didn't finish. He simply stood and ruffled the kids' hair before he turned and flipped the door sign to closed. Ben stood and walked out of the door.

"See ya tomorrow hommies!" he said to the kids before he left.

"So! How bout we watch some Ducktective reruns with dinner huh?" Dipper asked the pair. Patricia was looking at her phone.

"urm sure…" she commented with a shrug.

"What's Ducktective?" Ford asked in confusion. With that Dipper went into rampant detail about the show and the characters while Ford scribbled away what he was hearing. Patricia tuned them out. She was picking the best selfie of her running from gnomes she could. She was gonna post it somewhere. She wasn't sure where but she was going to. After Dipper disappeared into the kitchen Ford walked over.

"Did you see the way he was using that leaf blower? It looked like he was firing a bazooka or something!" Ford whispered. Patricia looked up from her phone imperceptibly and nodded even as Dipper walked in with three plates of their dinner.

"Alright! Move over! My couch!" Dipper said with a smile. Patricia made a show of groaning and rolling her eye before she let her Grunkle settle on the couch. Ford sat on the floor while Patricia sat on the arm rest. Together the trio settled into the show.

'But who could it have been? There are no finger prints. The killer is anonymous. Unless they didn't have finger prints… no it can't be… the killer is…'

'Quack quack quack… QUACK QUACK!'

"Ha ha ha!" the trio laughed.

"My god this show is so old." Patricia said through the laughter.

"It was new when I was your age. It only ran for three seasons. Something about the big reveal of the season two midseason finally… I'll admit it was less than stellar." Dipper said with a touch of reminiscence.

"Why?" Ford asked in confusion. Dipper sighed.

"Let's just say things tend to lose their edge when they happen in real life." Dipper explained cryptically. Ford frowned in confusion as he turned towards the screen.

"Neigh…NEIGH!"

"QUUUUAAAACKKK?!"

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!" the trio laughed jovially.

* * *

"I have to say… I thought staying with Grunkle Dipper was gonna be real lame… but he's actually kind of cool." Patricia commented as she settled into her bed. "In a weird old guy kinda way." Ford frowned.

"But he's hiding something." Ford said gravely. Patricia snorted.

"Oh honestly Ford, you're so paranoid. Okay I admit it, you were right about this town being weird but what could he possibly be hiding?" Patricia asked before she turned the light off and went on her phone. Ford lay wide awake in its pale light frowning at the ceiling for a few minutes before he turned away from it and settled into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Dipper looked into the kids' room. Patricia had fallen asleep with her phone in her hand, Ford was muttering under his breath as he clutched his journal to his chest. Dipper slowly closed the door and went into his own room. He walked over to his book shelf and looked at the picture beside it. It was of a tall blond woman with diamond earrings and a gentle smile. He turned the picture down and the bookshelf shifted over. He opened the door and slipped in. he glanced around his bed room with a glare before he closed the door. With that the bookshelf slid back into place and the picture flipped back up as if nothing had happened at all.

* * *

ZHOFRPH WR JUDYLWB IDOOV; PLQG WKH ZHLUGQHVV…


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ford and Patricia were lounging in the living room. Dipper walked from the front hall with a smile.

"Whelp! I've closed museum so we can spend the day together! What do you kids want to get up to today?" Dipper asked. Neither child moved as Dipper's face slowly fell. Patricia made a grunting noise. Ford simply continued writing. Dipper stared at them with a frown for a few seconds before he growled. He walked up and took Patricia's phone.

"What! Hey!" Patricia cried. He followed up by taking Ford's journal.

"NO! I was just in the middle of something!" Ford cried in anxiety. Dipper put Patricia's phone in his pocket and held onto Fords journal.

"You'll get them back at the end of the day. You kids need to have some real activity instead of spending all day staring at words."

"Hey! I watch videos too!" Patricia whined as she gave her Grunkle an angry look. Dipper simply shook her head.

"Come on! Who wants to put on blindfolds and go for a drive?" Dipper asked with a smile. The two children stared at him like he was crazy and Dipper frowned. "No. still sounds weird to me… how was Stan not arrested more." Dipper muttered under his breath. The twins stared at one another as their Grunkle left the house. In the end they agreed to put on the blindfolds.

"Grunkle Dipper… are we going anywhere illegal?" Ford asked worriedly.

"What? Oh no. I'm sure today will be the best day of your lives!" Dipper insisted with a chuckle. He stopped the car and led the children out. As he set them up just how he wanted. He reached for the blindfolds and ripped them off. "TADA!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ford screamed as he quickly ran up the hill and back into the car huddling as far away from the door he'd entered as possible. Dipper and Patricia glanced into the car, where Ford was hugging his knees rocking back and forth.

"This… might be a problem." Dipper commented with a frown.

* * *

Patricia groaned.

"Two things! First Ford is super terrified of water! Why are we even at a lake? Second can I have my phone back so I can take a picture of Ford freaking out and post it on my blog? My friends will love it!"

"No you cannot have your phone back. Especially to ridicule your brother. To answer your first question I was hoping to take you out in my boat onto the lake to go fishing. My Grunkle took me out on the lake with my sister when I came here when I was your age. I was hoping to continue the tradition…" Dipper glanced into the car where Ford was still having an episode. "Now I see that's not likely to happen…why is he so afraid of the water?"

"When we went on vacation to Cuba Ford and I watched the movie Jaw. The next day some teenagers stranded him on a raft in the middle of the ocean for the whole day. Apparently." Patricia made air quotes "Ford saw a shark. Ever since, he's been terrified of the water. He thinks something's gonna jump out of the water and eat him." Dipper sighed and opened the door.

"Ford. I promise you the lake is perfectly safe. I personally debunked and or sedated every lake monster that lived there." Ford's eyes widened to saucers and slammed the door again. Dipper blinked a bit. "Hm… maybe I should have worded that differently." Patricia smacked herself in the forehead. Dipper opened the door again. "Come on Ford I promise you, you don't even have to touch the water. Heck you don't even have to stand all that close!" Dipper reassured. Ford shook his head rapidly. Dipper stood, cracked his neck and sighed. "Very well… you've given me no choice. Force it is." So Dipper grabbed Fords legs and pulled. Ford held onto the edge of the car door for dear life.

"Come…on… it'll be fun!" Dipper reassured even as he strained.

"NOTHING ABOUT WATER IS FUN!" Ford screamed in terror. After a while Dipper finally got Ford free and carried him to about four meters from the water's edge. Ford was standing stock still, staring at the water, paralyzed with fear. Meanwhile Dipper was grunting and he cracked his back in pain.

"Harder then pulling teeth from a Multibear." Dipper muttered under his breath. After a few seconds he straightened up. "Alright Ford. Here" Dipper cried as he reached for his previously placed fishing rods. He casting the line out into the water and put the rod in Ford's stiff hands. "Just stand there. If you feel a tug just call for me. Patricia! I'm going to teach you how to gut a fish!" Dipper said with a smile. Patricia made a face but followed her enthusiastic uncle anyways. Ford stood there as the sound of the lapping waves rippled around quietly. He heard the chatter on the lake and some laughter. After a while his shoulders relaxed. Ford felt a bit of a smile tug onto his lips. Maybe it wasn't so bad out here. He wasn't too close. It was actually kinda nice. Ford relaxed a bit more as he saw two little kids playing with a Frisbee on the beach. Suddenly his arms jerked.

"GR-GRUNKLE DIPPER!" Ford cried even as he strained to hold the line. Suddenly the line really tugged and Ford was dragged into the lake. Ford was holding onto the rod for dear life when the line snapped. Ford scrambled to get to the surface of the water when suddenly he saw it. It had a long neck and tail and almost feathery ruffles. It turned its head towards him and brandished large fangs. Ford screamed then clutched his throat as he swallowed the lake water. Suddenly he was being yanked out of the water by a strong arm. He was being thumped on the back as he coughed for air on the floor of the boat.

"Alright aright. Ease up." Hadron McGucket said. Ford grabbed onto Hadrons shoulders with wide eyes.

"There's something in the water!" he cried. Hadron sat him down on the seat across from him with a chuckle.

"Now it's alright. Ya just had a bit of a dip is all."

"I saw it! It's there I swear! It's some kind of Lake Monster!" Ford cried. Hadron frowned.

"Lookit here kid. Let's get ya back to the shore. Then we'll have a talk about this lake monster." Hadron said before he began rowing his little boat towards the dock. As they approached they could see Dipper and Patricia waving. Ford jumped onto the dock and grabbed his Grunkles jacket.

"Grunkle Dipper you'll believe me! I saw something in the water! It was a lake monster!" Ford insisted with wide frightened eyes. Dipper chuckled.

"I already told you there aren't any monsters in the lake Ford. I think you're just scared because you got pulled into the lake by a big fish. I came running as soon as I heard but I couldn't see you anywhere." Dipper explained. He slowly led Ford off the dock Ford pushed him away.

"I know what I saw! It was a real lake monster!"

"Ford stop it!" Dipper insisted with a frown. He knelt before him. "Don't make a scene. Now clearly, in detail, tell me what it is you saw. I can personally tell you whether it was really a monster or just some shadow. Will that ease your thoughts?" Dipper asked at a whisper. Ford thought for a second before he nodded.

"It had a long neck and tail and these fins on its neck and huge teeth and white eyes." Ford explained. "It had big flippers and whiskers on its chin weird ear gills. It was all blue and huge! At least the size of the mystery shack! Maybe bigger!" Ford said clutching at his hair in fear as he thought about just how big the thing was. Dipper was frowning heavily.

"Tell me Ford? Did it look like this?" Dipper asked before he pulled a notepad out of his back pocket and showed for a picture. Fords eyes widened and he smiled.

"Yeah! It looked exactly like that! That means you've seen it right? It's real?" Ford asked.

"No." Dipper said with a grunt. Fords face fell. "That creature was nothing but a figment of your imagination. It was just a shadow." Ford frowned.

"But…" Ford began. Dipper frowned harshly.

"That's enough! Now go help your sister catch dinner." Dipper said pointing in the direction of the rocks him and Patricia had been fishing on. Ford glared before he stomped off angrily. He glanced back to his Dipper talking in hushed tones with McGucket.

"Ugh. Why doesn't anyone ever believe me!" he shouted before he kicked a pebble into the water.

"Because only raving lunatics run around screaming about lake monsters." Patricia said was she sat on the rock. Ford was sitting father away from the rock edge where as she was dangling her feet over the edge. As they sat their Ford stood up.

"You know what! No! I'm not gonna let Grunkle Dipper boss me around! I'm gonna prove that it's real! Just like how I proved to you Gravity Falls is weird!" Ford said before he ran off towards the docks.

"Ford! Hey… UGH!" Patricia cried before she chased after him. Ford meanwhile was slowly walking down the dock towards the row boats. The cheery woman behind the counter at the boat renting stand gladly let him rent out one of the row boats for an hour. Now he was slowly inching towards it. Finally he reached the boat now it was just a matter of stepping in. before when McGucket had pulled him out of the water adrenaline had stopped his fear from affecting him. Now it was back in full force.

"Come on Ford… you can do this… just step over the deep…dark… monster infested… terrifying… I CAN'T DO THIS!" Ford cried but as he turned to run back up the dock Patricia pushed him into the boat.

"Ugh. Commit four eyes." Patricia said before he stepped into the boat herself. Ford was sitting up holding onto the edge for dear life as Patricia set up the oars.

"What are you doing here?" Ford asked untrustingly. Patricia rolled her eyes.

"Well. You're so wimpy you'd probably spend hours just getting to the lake. I on the other hand was in the junior rowing league. I can get us out to the middle of the lake in minutes." Patricia said before she grabbed both oars and started rowing.

"No I mean why are you helping me?" Ford asked. Patricia scoffed.

"If you died I'd get grounded for life." Patricia said. Ford crossed his arms and glared even as they continued floating across the water. After a while they reached the center of the lake. Ford was glancing over the edge worriedly. Patricia meanwhile pulled out her phone. Ford looked at her in shock.

"What! How did you get that back?!" he asked in shock. Patricia scoffed.

"Slight of hand. Grunkle Dipper took his coat off and while he wasn't looking I swapped the phone for a rock. He'll be none the wiser." Patricia said as she typed away. Ford glared.

"Why didn't you swipe my journal?!" Ford asked angrily.

"Because that would be doing something nice you; and I…" Patricia trailed off as he looked over Fords head. Ford frowned.

"What are you…" he turned around and felt his mouth drop open. There in front of them was the monster Ford had seen before. Patricia slowly raised her phone and snapped a picture. The flash frightened the monster and with a swipe of his tail he slammed the boat. Ford held on for dear life but Patricia fell in. the creature saw the splash and threw up waves as it dove below the surface and disappeared. Patricia was slowly swept into the current and sputtered as a wave of water swept over her.

"FORD!" she screamed before two more waves washed over her and she slipped below the surface.

"OH NO! WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?!" Ford cried as he stared at the water. Finally he squeezed his eyes shut before he jumped into the water. He swam for Patricia and dragged her by the wrist up to the surface. She gasped for air and stared coughing as Ford struggled but succeeded to get them both in the boat. He grabbed the oars and started rowing as fast as he could. Patricia finally stopped sputtering.

"You… you saved me…" Patricia commented flabbergast. Ford rolled his eyes.

"I'd be grounded for life if I didn't." he commented. Patricia snorted a bit and the pair chuckled slightly as they made their way for a shore. Dipper was standing on the dock and he did not look impressed.

"Patricia Abigail Pines-Corduroy." He held up a small flat rock. "What is the meaning of this?" Patricia's face fell. Ford jumped up.

"She was just trying to help me!" Ford cried before he grabbed a Patricia's phone and shook the water off, thankful that her phone was waterproof, and showed his Grunkle the picture she had taken of the monster in the lake. Dipper's eyebrows were high on his forehead as he looked at it.

"I don't believe it… a real live Gobblewonker… maybe Fiddleford was even less crazy then we thought…" he looked at Patricia with a frown. "You really stole your phone back to help your brother?" Patricia looked away her arms crossed over her chest.

"Ugh. Yeah… don't tell anyone, it's the most embarrassing thing I've ever done." Patricia said. Ford glared at her for effect. Dipper smiled and sighed.

"Well aright, I suppose that makes up for it… whelp, there's still a bit of daylight left, think we can catch dinner before sunset?" Dipper asked. The pair shrugged and Dipper smiled before he walked away.

"Why'd you cover for me?" Patricia asked. Ford rolled his eyes.

"Don't get used to it. You helped me I helped you. It'll never happen again." Ford said. Patricia scoffed.

"Good! I don't want it to!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Kids?" Dipper cried.

"Coming!" they both shouted. Before they glared at one another but ran off in the direction there Grunkle had called from.

* * *

LW'V VWLOO OXUNLQJ…


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ford and Patricia were sweeping up the gift shop. It was a pretty boring day. Not much was going on. Ford sighed in boredom for the fifth time in twice as many minutes. Patricia shot him a dirty look.

"Will you stop that. Groaning isn't going to make the day go faster."

"Pretending to work isn't either! I did twice as much work as you!" Ford accused angrily. Patricia rolled her eyes.

"What work? There is literally nothing to do."

"Because I did everything!" Ford shouted angrily. Suddenly the door opened. Ben sat bolt upright from his sleeping position. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"You're getting good at that Benjamin… but you should at least try to stay awake." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh I do Mr. Pines… I do try…" Ben assured. Dipper didn't seem convinced. But he went to the cash register and opened it, taking a few bills out before closing it again.

"There isn't another tour for today. You can go hang out with your friends. Ford, Patricia, you can do what you like." Ford pumped his fist and went towards the door to the house but paused when he saw

Patricia run out the door. Curiosity got the better of him and he followed her.

"...And so I was wondering if I could hang out with you." Patricia ended before she smiled wide and batted her eyelashes. Ben was standing in the driver's side door of a busted up red pickup. He looked down at her with a grin

"Sure little dude! Hey Ford! Ya wanna come hang too?" Ben called over. He didn't notice Patricia's face fall as she turned to Ford with death glare. Meanwhile Ford felt very much on the spot.

"Erm… well I…"

"Come on man! It'll be totally sick!"

"Erm… okay…" Ford began quietly. Patricia stared at him with an open, gaping, furious expression.

"Just climb in the back." Ben motioned. Patricia and Ford both climbed into the back hatch. Ford looked around worriedly.

"Erm… is this safe?" he asked. Patricia threw him a dirty look.

"Sure dude. Just hold on if we hit a speed bump." Ben said before he started the truck with a rumble. The truck shot forward and Ford and Patricia fell back. They drove around the forest while Patricia and Ford leaned over either edge. The first stop was a small town house. Out of the house jumped a tallish boy.

"Yo Ben! My main bro! What up man!"

"Drop the act Tim!" Ben said with a roll of his eyes. The tall pale boy threw his head back and laughed.

"Ya always were able ta see through ma ol' charades." Tim said before he walked up to the hatch. "Looks like ya got some stow always Ben…"

"Naw, those are Graunt Mabel's grand kids. Ford and Patricia." the pale platinum blond climbed into the hatch.

"Howdy there. Timothy Gleeful. Friends call me Tim."

"Patricia." She said holding out a fist. Tim pounded it before he leaned against the closed hatch. Ben revved it and jumped the car so that Tim fell out.

"Ben Corduroy you menace!" Tim cried angrily. Ben just laughed before he let Tim climb back in. On they drove till they reached the mayor's house. Ford and Patricia looked at the house in shock then opened the window between the driver's wheel and the back.

"You're friends with the mayor's kid?" Patricia asked.

"Naw, his grandson. Theodore Cutebiker is a stick in the mud and nobody in town likes him. But Richie!" Ben whistled as the gate opened and out stepped an average height teen with a suit. As the gate closed behind him he ran and vaulted over the side of the pickup and landed in the back.

"GET ON! GET ON!" the boy cried and Tim and Ben howled like wolves before Ben slammed the gas and they roared off. "Hey Tim… who're the new kids?"

"Patricia and Ford. They're Ben's relations if I ain't mistaken." Tim said.

"Any family of Ben's is a friend of mine."

"Except for 'Mr. Pines'" Tim said with a sneer. The three teen roared with laughter as Patricia and Ford looked at each other in confusion. Suddenly they screeched to a halt outside the cemetery.

"Come on. Lucy's granddad is super chill; he lets us hang here all the time." Ben said before Richie jumped out of the pick up as Tim helped Patricia and Ford out.

"Hey, where are Miss and Lucy?" Richie asked.

"Right here you idiot." Said a girl in a black hoodie. Beside her was a tall teen with long black hair. Ford felt his mouth drop open a bit as she looked at him and smiled.

"There you are!" Richie said.

"Okay little dudes. Formal introductions." Ben cried as he pointed to each of his friends in turn. "Timothy Gleeful. He's pretty much the muscle."

"Pleasures all mine." Tim said with a smile.

"Over here my main man Richard Cutebiker, just call him Richie." Ben said pointing to the guy in the suit.

"Hey." He said with a smile

"Now here we have Lucille Valentino." Ben said pointing to the Goth

"I like black." She said. Patricia was staring at her like she was a goddess.

"And this is the very lovely Ms. Melissa Isibit Strange." Ben said with a smile. She punched Ben in the arm.

"Quit it Ben. Hi there." She said with a smile.

"My names Ford." Ford said spontaneously. Patricia stared at him in horror.

"Like the car model? It's cool." Melissa said with a smile.

"Hey… you're a Pines right?" Lucy asked with a smirk. Ford frowned.

"Well I'm a Pines-Corduroy but… yeah."

"Heh! Come gaze upon your future! Come check this out guys." Lucy said before she led them up a hill. At the top were two grave. "Beholden or some stuff. Whatever." Lucy said. Ford gasped. The cross read:

 _Here lies_

 _5- -Ford Filbrick Pines_

 _Loving brother and uncle_

"Lucy that is seriously creepy." Ben said with a laugh. Lucy rolled her eyes and picked up a stick.

"The moss is covering up the full name." She picked it away and Ford and Patricia read it again.

 _Stanford Filbrick Pines_

"Who the heck are Stanford Pines?" Patricia asked in confusion. Ben shrugged.

"Probably that great great uncle Graunt Mabel's always going on about. Wait… weren't there two?"

"Probably that one over there." Lucy said pointing to a tombstone not far off. This one was completely covered up with moss. Lucy chipped away to see the name but nothing else.

 _Here lies_

 _Stanley Pines_

Ben nodded.

"Yep, this is them, good ol great Grunkle Stans. Mr. Pines talks about them some times." Ben commented. Patricia frowned as the group moved to another area of the cemetery. Tim and Richie were getting into a pebble kicking contest while Ford followed Melissa and she chatted with Lucy. Ben seemed to be the leader, always directing things.

"Hey Ben. Why do you call Gran Gran Graunt Mabel but Grunkle Dipper Mr. Pines?" the teens all growled.

"Because Dipper pines is a totally washed out nobody that's why." Lucy said with a roll of her eyes. Richie gave her a high-five for that. Patricia looked around a bit in confusion.

"Ugh. He doesn't want me to call him Grunkle Dipper because he wants 'professionalism in the workplace' truth is that Dipper just doesn't know how to have fun anymore. Graunt Mabel tells me they used to get up to all sorts of cool stuff but now… well she says something happened… something he doesn't like to talk about. Because he's just a grouchy old guy now." Ben said. Patricia frowned.

"He lets us have fun. He lets us explore the woods and stuff…" Patricia said feeling the need to defend her uncle. The teens rolled their eyes and scoffed.

"Naw man! You chill with us, that's a good time." Ben insisted. The teens all nodded with a smile. Patricia grinned.

"You mean it; I can hang out with you guys?" Patricia asked in glee. Ben smiled.

"Yeah, you and Ford." Ben insisted. Patricia face fell and she turned to her brother. He was standing next to Melissa leaning on a tombstone.

"So yeah, I was in soccer camp." Ford said looking at his fingernails. Melissa smiled.

"Cool! I'm on the school field hockey team." Ford smiled.

"Wow that's neat!" the tombstone suddenly shifted and Ford slipped and fell. And teen all laughed. As he picked himself up.

"Man this guy is a riot!" Richie said with a laugh. Patricia blushed crimson.

"Hey uh... Ford… can I talk to you? NOW!" Patricia said firmly. Ford looked at Melissa and smiled.

"Uh, sure." She pushed Ford away from the group and behind a large tomb.

"What are you doing!? Are you trying to sabotage me?! Is this your revenge?! Look okay! These people are cool! These are my people! Your people spend all day playing video games and dreaming about girls

you'll never get!"

"Who says I can't get Melissa!" Ford asked angrily. Patricia blinked.

"What? Melissa is at least three years older then you! Maybe more! There's no chance!" Patricia said.

"Says who?" Ford asked angrily.

"The laws of the universe! If Melissa goes out on a date with you by the end of the summer, I'll start my own nerd diary."

"IT'S A JOURNAL! And I so can get Melissa to like me. I'm gonna keep hanging out with these guys and you can't stop me!" Ford said he turned to walk away.

"But I can embarrass you." Patricia said before she ran passed him.

Ford looked horrified as Patricia showed off her phone. "… and this is Ford freaking out about water. And this is Ford freaking out about gnomes. And this is Ford freaking out about school." The teens were all laughing and a very red Ford was glaring at Patricia.

"Dude. You're hilarious… but our need to chill man. We're all cool here. Lucy has a paralyzing fear of ladybugs." Ben said gesturing it the gaunt teen who was now staring off into the distance hollowly.

"They're just so… cheery." Lucy said before she shuddered. Patricia looked horrified. Ford smirked as his sister's plans to humiliate him went down in smokes. And so the teens spend the day with Ford and Patricia. Ford had the time of his life. Patricia spent a lot of the day moping. After the sun started going down Ben drove all his friends home before he dropped Ford and Patricia off at the Mystery Shack.

"See ya tomorrow little dudes!" Ben cried before he roared off in his truck. Dipper was standing on the porch with a Pitt Cola.

"Have fun?" he asked. Patricia just walked passed grumpily. Ford shrugged and told Dipper all about their day out. Patricia didn't speak at all during dinner and she went to bed early. Ford came up a few minutes after she did with a big grin on his face.

"I can't believe I'm in with the cool crowd! This was the best day ever."

"Speak from yourself." Patricia muttered from her position curled up in bed. Ford frowned.

"Why're you so grouchy. They like you too."

"Yeah but! Well they're all! Oh Ford you're so funny! Oh Ford you're so cool! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE COOL ONE! I'M SUPPOSED TO HAVE FRIENDS!" Patricia said as she climbed out of her bed and poked Ford in the chest. Ford glared.

"Maybe you would have friends if you were nicer to people." Ford said before he went to put his PJs on. Patricia stared at him in shock.

"I'm nice…" Patricia murmured to the ground. She lifted her hands and looked at them in confusion. "Aren't I?" she crawled into bed facing away from her brother. Even checking her phone wasn't making her feel better… she heard Ford crawl into bed but no more words were spoken

that night as Patricia drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

* * *

WKDW ZDV ZHLUG, L WKRXJKW L VDZ… QR LW FDQ'W EH…


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Patricia looked into the fridge for juice and blinked. The fridge was empty save for a cup of some pink stuff that looked barely edible and a Tupperware duct taped closed labeled with thick black marker 'DO NOT OPEN!'.

"Grunkle Dipper! There's no food in the fridge!" Patricia cried. Across the kitchen Ford opened up a cupboard and a gnome popped out.

"Hey! Shoo! Get outta here!" Ford said as it threw an empty can of meat at the offending creature. Dipper stood in the hall as the gnome dashed out the front door. He scratched his head in confusion as he looked around the cupboards.

"I was sure I was all stocked up… when did that gnome get in? Well… I guess it's time for a shopping trip." Dipper said with a smile. Ford and Patricia looked at each other in dread.

* * *

"Ugh… everything about grocery shopping sucks!" Ford complained as Dipper drove to the grocery store.

"Yeah. We never get anything we want and we always have to carry stuff." Patricia complained as she looked out the window. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"How bout this. You can pick one thing for each of you. And I'll only make you carry one bag each." Ford and Patricia looked skeptical as their Grunkle pulled into the parking lot. As they entered the busy store Dipper pulled out a cart.

"Now who wants to push?" he instantly regretted even asking as both twelve years olds dove for the handle and began shouting and scrapping for their hold on it. In the end Dipper had to physically separate them and grabbed onto the cart himself. The two were sneering at each other as they followed they're grumbling Grunkle. As Dipper continued down the list that to the twins seemed miles long Patricia grew bored. As Dipper became consumed in the cereal selections Patricia pulled Ford away.

"Come on! Let's get out of here. It'll take him forever to pick something out!"

"But Patricia…" Ford said worriedly. Patricia rolled her eyes.

"Either come with me or endure the boredom Four Eyes." Ford looked back at his Grunkle who was trying to pick the healthiest cereal out of the wall. Ford sighed and Patricia smirked.

"Alright. Let's go." Ford said and with that the two dashed out of the grocery before their Grunkle was the wiser. The pair walked down the town streets as they looked around. "So, arcade or diner?" Ford asked.

"Pssh are you kidding? Great Aunt Wendy works in the diner, she'd rat us out. I think we should hit the arcade. Seems fun... though it'll probably be filled with nerds." Patricia said as she walked ahead with her phone. As she was walking suddenly her phone buzzed with static. "What the?" She looked up and around before he noticed a glowing yellow signed at the end of the street. Ford watched as she turned down the street in confusion. He followed her and soon the pair were standing in front of what appeared to be some kind of bar and inn. "Illuminati… like the made up secret society?" Patricia asked in confusion.

"It's not made up." Ford insisted with a glare. Patricia raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, sure. Come on." Patricia said before she reached for the handle. Ford grabbed her hand.

"Patricia! We're minors! We can't go in a bar!" Ford whispered angrily. Patricia pushed him.

"Says who!" she cried before she dashed in. Ford groaned and rushed in after her. The bar was lightly crowded with a few people. But like the children they were all focused on the blond playing the piano on the stage. The way his fingers were moving across the keys was astounding a he smoothly moved from melody to melody with the skill of a master. Patricia and Ford stood transfixed as everyone else in the bar as he played. As he looked up he spotted Patricia and glanced at her before he seemed to smirk and looked back at the piano. Finally he brought the music to a grand finale as he rose into loud low notes. The few people in the bar whistled and clapped as the man dramatically rose from his stool and bowed comically. After that he stepped off of the stage and walked up to the bar. Patricia walked over and got up onto the stool.

"That was amazing…" she said in awe. The man chuckled.

"Had you pegged for a music appreciator… what's your names? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." He said when he saw Patricia give him a harsh look. After a few seconds she bit her lip but set her face.

"Patricia and Ford Pines-Corduroy." The man behind the bar smiled wide.

"Pines-Corduroy eh? Related to Mabel Pines-Corduroy?"

"Yeah… how did-" Patricia began.

"Names Caesar kid! Caesar Cipher." He said offering his hand for a shake. Patricia took it with a frown. Then the man turned his hand to Ford. Ford took it then the man lifted his hand up. He looked at him and shrugged. "Too bad… anyways what can I offer you?" the pair looked at him in confusion.

"Erm… won't your boss be kinda mad that you're serving minors?" Ford asked. The man chuckled.

"I am the boss kid. I own this place." He said gesturing to the bar and the tables and the stage. The pair looked at him with a new found respect.

"So why don't you hire somebody else to do all the work?" Ford asked. The man smirked.

"Because no one in this town can play piano like me. And because, like your Grunkle and the Mystery Shack, I'd like to keep it in the family… so to speak." The man said before he put two glasses of orange juice in front of the kids. Ford and Patricia looked at each other and smiled before they took a few sips through their straws. Ford was the first to look up with a frown.

"Wait... you know Grunkle Dipper?"

"Oh yeah! I know the whole Pines family! Dipper and Mabel and the twins and… well we won't talk about… those two." Caesar said as his face twisted into a dark look. Meanwhile the pair of children in front of him were very confused.

"Who won't we talk about? And what's this about twins? You mean there were other Pines twins? Were they Mabel and Dippers cousins?" Patricia asked in confusion. The blond looked at them with a chuckle.

"You're kinda curious aren't you? Bet you get into a lot of trouble. More than you're going to be in a few minutes."

"What?" they both asked in confusion. Caesar batted his hand down in dismissal.

"Anyways. Let's just say that house belong to a few other Pines before it belonged to him… and one Ramirez… but it was only for about thirty years… and technically he was family so… well I don't really know how that works…" Caesar admitted before he took a sip of a drink. "As for the others…" he clenched the drink a little tight "well… you honestly don't think Dipper was alone his whole life do you?" Patricia and Ford frowned.

"Wait? You mean he had a family? Like a wife and kids." Ford asked. The man smirked.

"You're just as sharp. Yes… he did… once." The man said said trailing off as he glanced into his drink as if it held the answer to some riddle he'd been unable to solve for a very long time. Patricia and Ford each took another few sips of their orange juices. After they reached the bottom the owner took their glasses away.

"Well it was nice meeting you… Kitten Face." he took Patricia's hand. Patricia and Ford looked at him like he was crazy. "Little Ford… Fordsie Junior… hmm… I don't know yet… we'll see. Anyways… bye!" the owner said before the door burst open.

"Caesar have you seen… kids!" Dipper shouted from the door way. Both Ford and Patricia hopped off the stools in shock. They looked up at the owner but he was once again sitting at the piano and began plucking away at the keys. Both Ford and Patricia looked up at their uncle who was now standing over them with his hands on his hips looking very cross and laughed nervously.

"Hey Grunkle Dipper… did you get the cereal you wanted?" Ford asked quietly. Dipper raised both his hands and shook them before he simply put his face in them and shook it. He pointed one hand out of the bar in silence and both children felt summarily cowed. They slowly walked out of the bar with their heads down.

"Bye Pine Tree!" they heard Caesar call before Dipper closed the door. They tossed each other a glance but didn't dare speak as they climbed into the car. Dipper climbed into the front. He looked very tense and frustrated. The trio was silent as they winded through the town roads and the thick forest to the mystery shack. As promise Dipper handed the kids each one bag. The carried it into the kitchen and started unpacking. This was all done in silence. Once they were done the twins went up to the attic and sat on their beds.

"Think we're grounded?" Ford asked quietly.

"Probably… it's a new record I think… Gran Gran doesn't usually feel the need to ground us until at least the second weeks…" Patricia commented with a heavy sigh. Ford was silent as the pair waited for the hammer to fall. After a few minutes there was a knock on the door before Dipper opened it. He still looked cross but he walked up and held out something for Patricia. She stared at it in shock before she took it. Then Dipper turned around and held something out for Ford. Ford took the package of rainbow pens in shock and looked up at their Grunkle. He moved to stand in the middle f the room. As he looked at them both he sighed.

"I know you two don't want to be here. I'm sure you'd rather be at some resort in the Caribbean or something but contrary to what you might think I do want you to have a fun summer… so please, if you're going to go off somewhere by yourselves just tell me first so I don't run around town like a mad man looking for you." He didn't wait for them to respond as he left the room. Patricia looked down at the pink fuzzy phone case in her hands and felt her eyes tear up. She wiped them away angrily before she opened the case up and put it on her phone. Dipper knew her phones make and model too. Ford meanwhile was organizing his pens among his others. He too could feel something was stuck in his throat. The pair looked at their new gifts before they heard Dipper call for dinner downstairs. They both rushed for the door and down the stairs. They both jumped and attacked their Grunkle with a hug. He lost his balance and stumbled for a bit before he laughed. "Alright alright! You're welcome…" he said before he set them both down and ruffled both their hair. With that the trio sat down for a happy meal filled with smiles and a fun story of how Dipper had been running around all over town for them.

* * *

FRPH WR WKH LOOXPLQDWL! OLYLQJ PXVLF HYHUB QLJKW! ZDLW... LV LW OLYLQJ RU OLYH? L IRUJHW...


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ford was sitting on the kitchen table with a sleepy face when suddenly there as a cthulhu monster in front of him

"AAAHHH! KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!" He screamed as he flung his juice at the offending creature. Patricia snapped a couple photos of this snickering. When Ford threw his cup and the creature shouted 'Ow!' sounding a lot like Grunkle Dipper, Ford sat in fear.

"Grunkle Dipper?" Ford asked. The creature lifted its head off to reveal that it was in fact Dipper. He was rubbing his head and wincing.

"Well it's convincing enough… has anybody ever told you, you have a wicked arm Ford." Dipper commented as he rubbed the slight bump on his head with a tentacle gloved hand.

"Grunkle Dipper… what's with the Halloween get up?" Patricia asked in confusion. Dipper smirked.

"Tonight is Summerween." He said with a raised eyebrow as he pulled open the curtain outside Hadron was hanging up bats on the totem poles while Ben carved faces into watermelons.

* * *

The twins stared at him with raised eyebrows.

"Summer what?" Ford and Patricia asked in confusion. Dipper smiled.

"Summerween. The people in this town like Halloween so much they decided to hold it twice a year. To this day I'm not sure if it's because the town is so supernatural or everyone really likes free candy." Dipper admitted with blank expression.

"Free candy." The twins said.

"Yep going with free candy." Ford repeated.

"It's definitely the free candy." Patricia said before she went onto her phone. "Well have fun trick-or-treating Grunkle Dipper… but you do know it's sad that you're an old man going trick-or-treating right?"

"Oh I'm not trick-or-treating. I'm hosting a Summerween themed tour. Thirty bucks a head. Hadron's going to chase them threw the museum with a fake knife after we make the exhibits a bit spookier. I'm going to be in one of the glass cases. It's going to be fun." Dipper admitted as he evilly chuckled before he put the mask back on. As he went to leave the kitchen he turned back. "Wait. You aren't trick-or-treating?" Dipper asked muffled. Patricia rolled her eyes.

"Pssh, no." Dipper lifted the mask.

"Why not? Summerween is one of the funniest holidays in gravity falls." Dipper said with a frown. Ford snorted.

"Patricia and I stopped trick or treating years ago. It's for little kids." Ford said with a roll of his eyes. Dipper frowned.

"You shouldn't try to grow up so quickly… you should at least dress up. I want you dressed if you're going to hand out candy." Dipper said before he difficultly picked up the candy bowl and handed it to Ford. Ford looked down and frowned.

"Ugh. This is all cheap looser candy." Ford went to throw it out but Dipper grabbed him.

"DON'T!" he shouted before carefully took the bowl. Ford and Patricia stared at him in confusion Dipper gave them a very serious look. "Whatever you do don't throw out ANY candy! Ever! Understood?!"

"Why not?" Patricia asked with a raised eyebrow. Dipper shuddered.

"Trust me. You don't want to know." He said before he put the mask back on. "HADRON! HOW ARE THOSE BATS COMING ALONG?!" Ford and Patricia glanced out the window as they watched a cthulhu monster help Hadron string bats between the totem poles before they stumbled and get tangled up in it.

"Have you ever wondered if insanity is hereditary?" Ford asked. Patricia scoffed.

"Oh I already know you're crazy Ford." She said as she typed away at her phone. Ford shot a dirty look in her direction before he turned to leave the kitchen.

"Come on, I think I saw some costumes in the closet upstairs in the attic." Patricia groaned but followed him upstairs.

Ford coughed as he opened the closet. A dust cloud flew into his nose and he sneezed.

"Ugh… these are all cheap costumes… vampire hat… crombie… what is that? That's not even a word!" Patricia groaned as she threw the costumes away. Ford looked through it all.

"Wait… maybe we can work with this." Ford said as he began taking bits and piece from the costumes. He picked up all his collected parts and went into the closest. Two seconds later he burst out with a hiss and flash of his fake fangs dressed as a convincing vampire.

"Nice… Hmmm." Patricia looked through the pile and smiled before she two disappeared to change. She came out in a blue dress, smattering with fake blood and a long knife.

"And?" she asked.

"Nice, mad Alice… though, she's got black hair not red…" Ford commented.

"Whatever. The kids will get it." Patricia said with a dismissive gesture. Ford and her ran down the stairs when they heard and knock at the door. They opened it up and smiled. Ben and Tim were at the door. Tim had an army get up on; Ben was a werewolf, complete with fake ears and nose.

"Hey dudes! Tim's hosting an awesome Summerween party. Are ya ready? You're dressed like you are!" Ben asked. Ford and Patricia groaned.

"Err well… Grunkle Dipper wants us giving out candy…" Patricia said, suddenly Dipper grabbed both Ben and Tim on the shoulder. Both teens screamed bloody murder while Dipper laughed heartily.

"Relax boys, it's just me."

"Mr. Pines, ya scared the willies outta me…" Tim said as he clutched his chest. Ben was heaving beside him with laughter.

"Grunkle Dipper that was awesome!" Ben cried.

"Ben…" Dipper said with a warning tone.

"Right… Mr. Pines… sorry." Ben said making an annoyed face. Tim, Patricia, and Ford sent Dipper unnoticed annoyed looks too.

"Anyways. I heard something about a party. Well how bout this kids. I'm running my last tour at 9:00. Will your party be done by then Gleeful?" Dipper asked. Tim shook his head with a grin.

"I reckon the fun will have just started Mr. Pines." Tim said. Dipper nodded.

"Well then, after 9 you kids can go over to Tim's." Dipper said. Both tweens cheered and high five each other. Ben smiled and waved them off as he and Tim left.

"See ya then little dudes!" Ben cried before he Tim went back down the forest road. With that Dipper rubbed his tentacles together with a dark chuckle.

"Prepare to hear many scream my dear niece and nephew, many screams" Dipper assured before he walked away leaving Ford and Patricia on candy duty.

True to Dipper's words the children did hear much screaming the rest of their candy duty. Dipper came out of Mystery Shack a few times to take off his mask and have something to drink but every time he was laughing like a mad man.

"Oh that last kids face… just price less." he said with a chuckle. He made comments like that all night. Around eight thirty Ford and Patricia ran out of candy.

"Ugh… what do we do?" Patricia asked. Ford just motioned towards the wall that the museum laid on the other side of.

"Let's just go ask Grunkle Dipper." Ford said. There was another gut wrenching scream from the museum and Patricia gulped.

"Erm… maybe we can just not give out anymore candy." Patricia reasoned. Ford snorted.

"Oh come on Patricia, you're not scared are you? How scary can it be?" Ford reasoned before he left through the front door and made for the entrance of the Mystery Shack. Patricia groaned before she raced after him.

* * *

The twins entered the dark entrance of the Mystery Shack with differing expressions. Ford was looking around unimpressed. Patricia looked apprehensive. As they took a few steps into the shack the door slammed shut. Patricia latched onto Ford's side as her brother swallowed. There was a rustling beside them. Ford tried to feel for a light somewhere but there was nothing then suddenly there was a horrible flashing and laughing. There was a tall man holding a chainsaw high over his head. Ford and Patricia screamed and ran for their lives. Suddenly they were split up somehow into a room of mirrors.

"Ford! Ford where are you!" Patricia cried out. Ford was pounding on the glasses frantically.

"Patricia! Patricia can you hear me?" Ford screamed. Suddenly the mirror began to bleed water that was trickling down in a puddle all around Ford. He began to hyperventilate as the water slowly crept towards him. Ford frantically glanced around for an exit. It was then he noticed the mirrors weren't a perfect circle. Ford dashed for the opening in the room frantically running away from the room of water. Suddenly he collided with Patricia with an audible oof. The pair rubbed their backsides as they groaned on the floor.

"Ford!"

"Okay… this was a bad idea." Ford admitted. Patricia threw her brother a very nasty look and opened her mouth to make some comment when suddenly something rubbery and slimy wrapped around Ford's ankle. He screamed as he was pulled into the darkness.

"FORD!" Patricia screamed. She backed up until she hit something. She slowly turned around. Above her was Grunkle Dipper. But he was splattered with something a lot like blood with a bit of Ford's cloak and his glasses in his tentacles. It was all too much and Patricia eyes rolled into her skull as she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"...Tricia… Patricia! Can you hear me? Maybe the blood was a bit much…"

"A bit! A BIT! She's dropped into a dead faint!" Patricia groaned as she blinked away her headache. Ford and Dipper were arguing above her. Dipper was thankfully out of his costume. Patricia blinked a bit and glared.

"Your imagination is seriously messed up Grunkle Dipper…" she muttered. Dipper winced and helped her sit up. "Ugh… I feel like my head is in a vice…"

"I couldn't catch you fast enough…" Dipper admitted sheepishly. Patricia glared again. She slowly stood and groaned. Dipper looked at her worriedly.

"Are you all right? Do you still want to go to Tim's party?" Dipper asked. Patricia nodded.

"Yeah… but maybe I'll take it a bit easy…" she said quietly. Ford was standing beside her worriedly.

"Maybe you should just stay home…" he offered. Patricia scoffed.

"No! I want to go!" she said snootily. Ford rolled his eyes.

"And she's back." Ford muttered

"What's that supposed to mean!" Patricia shouted angrily. Dipper put a hand on their shoulders to stop the fight before it started.

"Alright. Well you can head out now." the two smiled and gave him a hug before they dashed out the door. Dipper went to the front door and shouted after them. "NO DRINKING OR DRUGS!" he shouted with a chuckle.

"GRUNKLE DIPPER!" the pair screamed back in horror and embarrassment. Dipper laughed as he went back into the Mystery Shack.

* * *

The bell above the door jingled as Dipper walked in and sat at the dark bar. A drink was slid across the counter as Bill came up and tapped the rim of Dippers drink.

"Where are the kiddies?" Bill asked.

"Party… one I never got to when I was young... "Dipper said, reminiscing as he sipped his drink. He frowned and put it down. "Also Bill I think you went a bit overboard with the horror element. Patricia actually fainted…" Bill laughed.

"Aw come on! It was hilarious! Most fun than I've had in a long while… thanks again for letting me help Pine Tree." Bill said with a blink.

"You're blinking again Bill." Dipper said offhand as he lifted his drink to his lips again.

"godangit!" Bill shouted slamming his drink onto the counter with a harsh frowned. Dipper chuckled heartily as Bill struggled to close just one eyelid. As he sat there a cold sadness settled over him and Bill.

"What do you think-" Bill began.

"I don't ask questions like that Bill…" Dipper said as he drained his drink.

"But it-" the door closed with a jingle before Bill could finish his thought. He stared at the closed door sadly before he went about cleaning "he never stays for another drink anymore." Bill muttered bitterly under his breath.

* * *

Dipper looked up when the door banged closed around midnight.

"Fun party?" he asked before his smile slipped away. Patricia was laughing as she hung off of Ford's frame.

"Hey! Hey Ford! Listen… I… I love you man! Yeah I really do!" she said with a giggle. Dipper's eyes twitched.

"I specifically said no drugs or drinking!" he growled. Ford shook his head groggily with a yawn.

"And there was neither! She had at least six cans of Crimson Ox… I think she's just really really hyper…" Ford said as he struggled to keep his glasses in place as Patricia struggled to keep her hold on him. Dipper smacked himself on the forehead.

"And that stuff makes you crash at the drop of a hat." on queue Patricia fell into a dead sleep. Ford grunted as he tried to hold her up right. In the end Dipper leaned down and picked her up. "Ugh… you two are too big for this." he groaned as he carried his sleeping great niece up the stairs. Ford was yawning more as he stumbled up the stairs. He was rubbing his eyes as Dipper put Patricia in her bed. He covered her up then turned to Ford. He had fallen asleep on top of the mattress; face down, the covers underneath him with his glasses digging into his nose. Dipper chuckled before he took Ford's glasses off and folded them up on the bedside table. He pulled the covers out from under Ford and tucked his nephew in. Dipper went to the door way and stood watching the pair. He was struck with a bitter sense of déjà vu that left a hollow feeling in his chest. He sighed as he closed the door as the pair slept.

* * *

GRQ'W WKURZ DZDB WKH FDQGB! VHULRXVOB. GRQ'W.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Patricia looked at the rain outside and groaned.

"How to make Gravity Falls even more boring… just add rain." she said as she tapped away at her phone. Ford was on his bed across from her he was staring at the blank page of his journal and sighed.

"yeah… I mean we've explored almost everywhere in the Mystery Shack and there is no way I'm going out there." Ford said as he watched the rain skitter across the glass panes. Patricia rose and eyebrow.

"What's up with you and water lately? You jumped when I poured a drink yesterday." Patricia commented with a snicker. Ford shot her a dirty look.

"Summerween happened…" Ford thought back to the mirror room and shuddered. Patricia raised an eyebrow.

"What happened? I don't remember a lot about what happened that night… too much Crimson Ox" Patricia said thinking back. Ford shook his head.

"You don't want to know… anyways… hey I thought I saw a movie theater in town… maybe we can go there…" Ford said with a smile. Patricia smiled.

"Hey ya! Triassic Planet should be playing! I really wanted to see that." she said with a smile. Ford rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Please! It's just a cheap remake of Triassic plaza! I wanna go see Vindicators: Rise of the Robots." Ford said with a grin

"Oh like that haven't made too many of those! I gave up on that series when they made a Steel Soldier 3 and a Brontes 2… they did not need to make those." Patricia said with a roll of her eyes. Ford shrugged.

"The CGI was good." he offered Patricia just rolled her eyes and made her way down the stairs. Ford followed Dipper was sitting on the couch drinking a Pitt Cola when Patricia walked up to him.

"Grunkle Dipper can you drive us to the movie theater?" Patricia asked. Dipper winced.

"Sorry but I can't... I can't be seen in or around the theater… neither can you…" Dipper said. The twins looked at him in confusion.

"What? Why not?"

"My great uncle got the entire family banned for all eternity." Dipper said with a wince. The pair stared at him in shock.

"How?" Ford asked in confusion.

"He broke into the theater, stole popcorn and drinks, smuggled us all into the projector room and stole a sofa…" Dipper said as he thought back to that evening. "It was a wonderful bonding experience."

"So you mean to tell us that there is literally NOTHING to do today?" Patricia asked. Dipper looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"You could explore the Mystery Shack… there's always something new." Dipper offered before he went back to his cola. Ford and Patricia groaned before they went back upstairs. Patricia and Ford flopped down onto their beds and groaned again.

* * *

Ford tried to write something but the rain skittering across the window was distracting him. He finally gave up and threw his journal off to the side. It fell down the side of his bed.

"Damn!" he cried as he stuffed his hand down the side of the bed. Patricia looked up as she watched him struggle. In the end Ford had to get off the bed and crawl under it. As he picked up his journal he noticed something glittering behind a crumples up piece of card board that read 'who is the author?' he tossed it off to the side with a frown and reached for the small object. As he came out from under the bed Patricia flashed the piece of cardboard.

"Who's the author of what?" Patricia asked. Ford shrugged as he turned the small key over in his hand. It was a fairly plain key. At the disc at the end there was an eagle. Ford frowned as he looked at the teeth. "What do ya think it unlocks?" Patricia asked. Ford frowned before he handed her the key and went towards the bathroom. He closed and locked the door.

"Try to unlock It." he said loudly. Patricia raised an eye brow but did as she was told. The lock clicked much to Patricia shock. Ford stepped out with a smile.

"Thought so… I think this is the Mystery Shack skeleton key. It should be able to unlock any door in the shack" Ford said with a smile. Patricia smiled wide.

"Nice! Let's open some of those doors that were locked… hey! Like that one, remember!" Patricia asked as she walked across the attic landing to the blue door that was next to Dipper's room. Ford frowned.

"I'm pretty sure Dipper said he didn't want us going in there…" Ford said with a wince. Patricia snorted.

"Oh come on, what could be in there? Come on Ford!" Patricia whined. Ford sighed before he put the key in the lock. With a click the door opened. The pair looked into the room in anticipation.

Their faces fell.

"It's a bed room… you mean Grunkle Dipper has been making us share for no reason?! Ugh!" Patricia growled as she walked into the room. It was modestly decorated. There was a poster for a football team and a banner for the Gravity Falls High School. There was also a whole bunch of rock band posters. Ford looked at the dusty desk and frowned.

"I think this is somebody's bedroom… look at this." Ford said se he lifted up a few plaques. "Excellence in Mathematics. Excellence in Writing, excellence in Music, excellence in Science… whoever's room this was he was a genius!" Ford said as he looked around. Patricia was looking in the closest. It was empty save for a few sweaters that had their Gran Gran's style, a few ties, and a couple dozen hangers. The dresser drawers were opened as well and emptied save for a few socks. There were papers stuffed into the waste basket. Ford and Patricia frowned as they look in other things books missing from the bookshelf, cords for electronics that were missing.

"Whoever they were… they sure left in a hurry…" Patricia said as she lifted a paper out of the waste bin. It was a report card. "He got the honor roll… A+ in everything…"

"Ford finally found kind of picture. It was of their Grunkle Dipper and a blond woman laughing in a boat. Patricia looked over his shoulder and frowned.

"Who is she?" Patricia asked. Ford shook his head and looked around some more. Suddenly he was whipped around by a hand.

"What are you two doing in here?! Dipper shouted angrily with a harsh frown. Patricia dropped the picture she was holding as Dipper pushed them both out of the room. He slammed it closed. He took a deep breath before he turned around with a glare. "When I said explore I didn't mean pick the locks of locked doors! They're locked for a reason! Stay out of that room! Understood!" he yelled angrily. Ford and Patricia nodded frantically. Dipper pointed them to their attic room and they went into it silently. They'd never seen their Grunkle so angry. They twins sat on their beds silently.

"Where did they go…" Patricia murmured after what seemed like hours. Ford looked up in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Somebody used to live in that room… they were super smart… but after high school they left… who were they… and why did they leave?" Patricia wondered aloud. Suddenly Ford remembered something.

"Remember Caesar the bartender… he said that Dipper use to have a family… maybe the room belonged to his son." Ford said. Patricia frowned.

"could be… but why did he leave… and what happened to that lady that was with Grunkle Dipper… do you think she was his wife?" she asked. Ford thought back and nodded.

"I think so… but what happened to her… do you think she died?" Ford asked. Patricia looked out the window to the rain.

"I could explain why Grunkle Dipper is so sad… she seemed kinds nice in the photo… why would she want to marry somebody as grouchy as Grunkle Dipper?" Patricia asked as the pair sat in silence as the rain trickle down.

* * *

Dipper turned away from kids doors with a heavy sigh. He'd been too harsh with them. He stood there and stared at the blue door he had been steadfastly ignoring for the past twenty years. He put a hand on his face and sighed heavily before put on a face of fake strength and went back down stairs. He was going to make the kids favorites to make up for getting so upset. That meant calling Mabel… which meant lots of talking about them… Dipper took a deep breath and reasoned he'd endure it if only for the kids.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Patricia flopped onto the bed and glanced at her phone.

"Is it just me or is Grunkle Dipper acting even more Grunkly then usually lately?" Patricia asked. Ford looked at her with a frown.

"I think he's still mad at us about the whole incident with the room…" Ford said quietly. Patricia snorted.

"All your fault anyway." she muttered under her breath. Ford stared at her.

"My...my fault! How is it my fault! I didn't even want to open the door! You were the one who told me to!"

"Pfft. it's not my fault you can't take some peer pressure." Patrica said with a snooty smirk. Ford clenched his fists in fury.

"How can you be so selfish?! You blame me for everything! Well I'm sick of it! Why can you take responsibility for your actions just once?!" Ford shouted angrily. Patricia glared.

"How am I selfish?! You blame me everything too! I didn't make you unlock the door. You did it all by yourself."

"Because you told me to!" Ford screamed. Patricia scoffed.

"And you call me an idiot. You're obviously more stupid then me." Patricia muttered with an evil smirk. Ford snapped.

"OH THAT IS IT! I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Ford screamed. Patricia looked shocked before her face twisted into anger. She stomped out of the attic room and slammed the door behind her before she ran down the stairs, out the front door and into the woods. As she walked through the trees she wiped her traitorous eyes angrily and continued her angry trek. Dipper was standing in the living room doorway with a grim face. After a few seconds he sighed and made his way up the stairs. He knocked on the door and looked at his great nephew. The boy was holding his knees in the far corner of his bed. He looked angry but at the same time Dipper could see the bit of heartbreak that simmered under the surface. Dipper sat on the other end of the bed with a grunt and sighed.

"Ford… sometimes we say things we don't mean… and those words can hurt…" Ford didn't look like he was going to respond but a bit more sadness filled his eyes and he looked at the wall. Dipper smiled sadly as he looked at the ground. "I don't think it's physically possible to hate your twin Ford. Believe it or not Mabel and I used to fight as bad as you two do…" Ford looked at him in shock. Every photo he'd ever seen of Gran Gran and Grunkle Dipper when they were younger showed them happy and enjoying spending time together.

"How?" Ford couldn't stop himself from asking. Dipper chuckled sadly.

"I made mistakes… and I said something a lot similar to what you did… and I never tried to make it better… we've since made up… but there were a few years when Mabel and I weren't quite as in sync as we used to be… what I'm trying to say, Ford, is that you should go out and make up with Patricia… because living without your twin." Dipper's face darkened a bit with sadness "its torture…" he finished. Ford nodded and went to get up. Dipper placed a hand on his shoulder with a chuckle. "oh not quite yet… one thing I've learned about the mysterious creatures that are woman is that they need some time to cool off… not a lot mind you… but some." Ford laughed a bit. Dipper looked at him with a bit of pride and left the room. Ford looked at Patricia's bed and nodded before he went downstairs. He hopped up onto the couch arm next to Dipper and the pair watched a few episodes of Ducktective. Halfway through the third episode the phone rang. Dipper was asleep in the chair so Ford hopped off and picked up the phone.

"This is Dipper Pines' residence who is this?" he said.

"Ford…. Ford it's me Patricia" he heard Patricia whisper with panic in her voice.

"Patricia… what wrong? You sound like your hiding from somebody…" Ford asked worriedly.

"Ford you have to help me… there's this monster lady… she has snake hair… I walked into her cave by accident and she…" Ford heard her gasp and the sound of her running through the forest. "Please Ford help me!" Patricia whispered. "oh no FORD!" the line when dead. Ford was standing in the kitchen with the phone frozen in fear. He didn't know what to do! His sister had just been kidnapped by some kind of monster!

"GRUNKLE DIPPER!" Ford shrieked as he ran up to his uncle. Dipper was standing up fists at the ready. He turned to Ford as the boy ran up to him with panic filled eye. "Patricia's been kidnapped by some kind of monster! She said it had snake hair or something!" Dipper paled and turned towards the stairs.

"Stay right there!" he shouted before he dashed up them. Ford looked up where Dipper had disappeared then out the front door to the woods. This was taking too long! Patricia could be getting eaten right now. In the end Ford steeled himself and dashed out the door. Dipper rushed back downstairs when he heard the front door bang closed.

"Ford!" he cried out the door at his nephew's retreating figure. In the end he smacked himself on the forehead and charged after the boy.

* * *

Ford ran through the woods hurriedly as he grew more and more apprehensive. A few creatures peaked out from behind bushes or trees as he rushed by finally he skidded to a halt in a clearing.

"What am I doing?! I'm running off to fight some monster and I don't even know what it is! I don't have any weapons! What was a thinking?!" suddenly a hand landed on his shoulder. Ford screamed like a little girl and whipped around. Dipper was huffing as he leaned on his bent knees.

"Whoo… man I'm outta shape." he grunted as he panted. After he caught his breath he held onto both of Ford's shoulders. "Are you alright?! I told you to stay in the shack!" he said angrily. Ford blushed sheepishly.

"But Patricia is out here…" Ford murmured. Dipper sighed

"Alright. Stay behind me. I know where the gorgon lives. Once were inside I need you to keep your eyes closed, understand?" Dipper asked looking Ford in the eyes. Ford nodded. Dipper stood. "Then let's go." Dipper led his great nephew through the forest. As they reached the mouth of the cave Dipper stopped him. "Uh Ford… I'd appreciate is you didn't tell Mabel about any of this… I'd never hear the end of it." Ford frowned.

"Erm… okay." Ford responded. Dipper nodded before he led his nephew into the cave. Ford took a few steps before he tripped. He looked back at what tripped he and back away horrified. It was a gnome frozen in a scream of absolute terror. Ford began to hyperventilate before Dipper picked him up.

"Alright! It's alright! Deep breaths! You need to be brave for me okay Ford!" Dipper said as he held his nephews arms. Ford swallowed and nodded. Dipper smiled "alright… I need you to close your eyes. I promise you everything is going to be okay."

"I trust you Grunkle Dipper." Ford said with a swallow before he closed his eyes on Dipper's shocked face. Dipper shook it off and put on a pair of strange grey glasses. He led his nephew through the cave before a motion off to the side made him duck behind a rocky formation.

"Alright Ford… I need you to stay here alright. Promise me you won't move from this spot." Dipper whispered. Ford nodded and Dipper felt a bit of pride for his nephew. With that Dipper rushed out from behind their hiding spot. Dipper in the cave Dipper could see the gorgon was slithering around Patricia's frozen statue that was just behind a broken rock column. Dipper glared darkly and whistled.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" the gorgon turned to him and slithered rapidly towards him. Dipper smirked and just as she reached him Dipper whipped out the silver mirror he held in his coat just in case. The creature squealed in terror but shielded her eyes and whipped Dipper to the side with her tail. Dipper grunted as he banged into the wall. Meanwhile the mirror clattered to the other side of the cave. He glanced up at it and gulped. "waffles." suddenly he rolled over as the gorgon slammed her tail at the ground. He dashed for the mirror but the gorgon flicked it away. It slammed into the wall and shattered. "Belgian pancakes!" he screamed. All he had now was a pocket hand mirror he kept for emergencies. The gorgon whipped her tail at him and he ducked just in time as the pillar of rock beside him became rubble. Dipper had an idea. He began running away from Ford and Patricia deeper into the cave. He made sure to make his route extra confusing. The gorgon rushed after him and quickly became lost in the labyrinth of stone formations. When Dipper was far enough away he pulled out his gun and fire two rounds as the gorgon. She hissed at the noise as the bullets pelted off her scales uselessly. She rushed towards him but just as he reached him Dipper pointed his gun to the ceiling and emptied his clip. The ceiling crashed down on the gorgon and she was pinned beneath a massive boulder. Dipper smirked before he grabbed a few of the snakes on her head to hold it in place and pointed the mirror at it. The gorgon instantly turned into a stone statue that cracked and broke under the stress of the rock. With that Dipper slid down the wall of the cave and groaned.

"Ugh… son of a-"

* * *

Ford felt terrible for doing this but when he heard the cries of the gorgon fade away he crept out of his hiding spot and opened his eyes. He knew he could be turned to stone any minute but he wanted to find Patricia. It wasn't that hard. Ford paled as he walked up to his sister. She was frozen as she was taking a step back, phone to her ear, with wide fearful eyes. Ford sighed as he touched her cold arm. He withdrew it and clutched at his hair.

"God I was such an idiot! I'm so sorry Patricia… I didn't mean anything I said… now your frozen in stone… and you could be stuck like this forever… "Tears welled up and Ford rubbed them away furiously. Suddenly Dipper walked up and dumped a bucket of multi color liquid on her. He looked at Ford with a frown.

"I told you to stay put… you just aren't listening today." Ford blushed sheepishly and looked away. Suddenly Patricia gasped. Ford rushed forwards with relief.

"You're okay!" he said. Patricia meanwhile was too busy flicking the sticky rainbow liquid off of herself.

"What is this stuff." she asked. Dipper's face went black.

"Uh… liquid rainbows." he responded when the kids gave him an expectant look. Ford and Patricia looked at him in confusion before Ford shrugged and Patricia continued whipping it off her person.

"Okay."

"But you should probably have a shower when we get back to the shack." Dipper said with a weak chuckle. Ford and Patricia looked up. Patricia looked slightly horrified.

"Whhhyyyyy?" she asked wearily. Dipper gulped.

"Uh… reasons." he responded. Patricia winced and tried to delicately flick it off. Dipper shook his head to clear it. "Aright, let's get back to the shack." Dipper stepped out of the cave and kicked the gnome that was coming after him with a rainbow soaked beard. The gnome screamed as it was kicked as the kids stepped out of the cave.

"What was that?" Patricia asked.

"Must have been a squirrel or something." Dipper insisted before he led the kids in the direction of the shack.

* * *

Ford cautiously opened the door to the attic room. Patricia looked up from her phone and glanced at him plainly. The pair stood in the awkward silence for a few seconds before Ford took a deep breath.

"Patricia… I just wanna say… I'm sorry… for the things I said… I was a jerk… I didn't mean-" Ford yelped as Patricia punched him in the arm.

"I get it you nerdy idiot." she said before she went back to her phone. Ford chuckled as he punched her back. He winced and held his hand as Patricia snickered. "Wimpy nerdy idiot." she meant it to sound mean but the slight smile on her face gave away how she really felt. Ford felt his own smile twitch onto his face.

"Kids!" Dipper called from downstairs. Patricia groaned.

"Ugh. Here comes another Grunkly old man monologue." Patricia moaned. Ford sighed.

"It's no less then we deserve." Ford muttered

"Kids!"

"Coming Grunkle Dipper!" Ford called. "Come on, let's get this over with." he said to Patricia before they both made their way down stairs.

"In the kitchen." Dipper said and the pair walked in. he motioned to the chairs and the pair sat down. With a deep breath Dipper began. "Kids, what you did today was reckless, dangerous and downright idiotic. This forest, this town, is filled with things that will try to kill you as soon as you step out of this house." he paused to take in the kids' faces and realized his mistake. "I'm not saying this to scare you. I'm just trying to warn you. You have to be careful." Dipper turned and looked out the window. "Kids there are monsters in this town to horrible to describe… things to terrible to imagine…" Dipper shook away his nostalgia and turned back to the kids with serious eyes "from now on I don't want either of your going anywhere on your own… kids this family has been torn apart many times… I don't want it to get torn apart again… promise me that from now on you won't go anywhere alone." Dipper finished. Ford and Patricia both swallowed and nodded. Dipper reached out his hand. "Shake on it." the pair turned their head but each took their turn shaking Dippers hand. After that Dipper smiled and ruffled their hair. "Alright, run along. dinner is in a bit." the kids rushed off and Dipper was left alone. He turned back to the window and stared at it in contemplation, two memories dancing around each other in an endless loop in Dipper's head.

 _I trust you Grunkle Dipper_

 _TRUST NO ONE! TRUST NO ONE! TRUST NO ONE!_

Dipper smiled a bit before he went about making dinner.

* * *

DZRG Z HVXLMW... TMLNVH... LS VVVVDDDDDD... GSZG'H MZHGB...


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Patricia and Ford were lounging on the couch, mouths agape as they stared at the TV screen. They each had glazed bored looks of someone who wasn't planning on moving for quite a while but merely watching TV to fill time. Suddenly the screen was blocked.

"Hey! What gives?!" Ford cried as Dipper glared down at them with his hands on his hips.

"You two haven't moved from that spot in two days! You need to go out and do something!" he cried. Patricia lazily shook her head.

"Don't wanna." Ford agreed as he shifted to another position. Dipper glared.

"Don't you want to go out exploring, solve some mystery, discover a rare object?" Dipper asked. Patricia snorted.

"Uh hashtag nerd!" Patricia said hiding it behind a cough. Dipper frowned harshly. He pulled something out of his coat pocket and threw it at them. Ford caught it. It was a library card.

"Go outside and learn something!" Dipper cried pointing at the door. Patricia rolled her eyes.

"It's not like you'll kick us out." she said smugly. Dipper growled. Two seconds later the pair were standing on the outside of the Mystery Shack in shock before Dipper slammed and locked the door. Patricia and Ford looked at each other in shock.

* * *

Ford and Patricia looked up the steps of the Gravity Falls Library. It was and oddly shaped stone building with a wooden roof. Ford sighed from under his umbrella.

"I'm sure it won't be totally boring." Ford said before he and Patricia made their way inside. The shelves were tall and wooden crammed with all kinds of books. Ford shook off his umbrella and hung it on the coat rack.

"Well there's Wi-Fi." Patricia said as she tapped on her phone. Ford looked up at the various shelves.

"Hm… I wonder if there's a section about secret codes." Ford murmured.

"Nerd alert!" Patricia said with a snicker. Ford glared at her as she walked by deeper into the library. Ford began reading the signs on the shelves when suddenly.

"Is there anything I can help you find deary?" a reedy elderly voice asked from behind him. Ford jumped and whipped around. Standing before him was an ancient looking woman with wrinkles on her wrinkles, bluish hair, and small thick round glasses. Ford chuckled a bit wearily.

"You scared me a bit… I was wondering if you…" he trailed off. For a second he thought the ladies eyelids had closed sideways.

"Yes deary?"

"Erm… secret codes… mysteries… weird stuff. Do you have a section about that stuff?" Ford asked. The woman smiled.

"Right over here deary." she said before she led Ford through the library. Ford followed her finally she stopped. "Enjoy your stay here deary." she paused when she noticed Ford journal. "Oh you already have a book there." Ford held it closer to his chest.

"Oh um… this isn't from the library." the woman's eye twitched but she smiled.

"Well that's nice deary. Have a nice day." as she walked off Ford waited until he couldn't hear the odd shuffling footsteps anymore before he dashed in the direction of the computers. Patricia had her earphones plugged into one of the computers watching ThemTube. Ford shook her.

"Patricia!" he whispered. Patricia looked at him as he motioned to his ear. Patricia groaned and removed one of the earphones.

"What?" she began wearily.

"There is something wrong with the librarian!" Ford whispered frantically. Patricia let her head hit the desk with a thud and groaned.

"Ford… why? Just… just why?" Patricia asked as Ford frantically riffled through book after book about supernatural creatures.

"Why what? I'm sure of it this time Patricia." Ford insisted. He looked between the four books while Patricia snorted.

"I just realized the level of nerdiness you have exhibited throughout our lives. This has happened more than once… and every other time you've been wrong… what makes you think you'll be right this time?" Patricia asked. Ford was too wrapped up in his researched to hear what she said. Patricia scoffed and walked off towards the magazine section. She was absorbed in her search when suddenly

"Can I help you find anything deary?" the librarian asked from behind her. Patricia jumped and whipped around.

"Um… no I'm good." Patricia said before she looked over the magazines again.

"Deary. Is that lovely boy looking into ciphers your brother?" Patricia rolled her eyes as she pulled a sixty year old tabloid off the shelf

"Yeah. He's a total nerd. Also super paranoid." she muttered as she opened up an article about some boy band called the Several Timez.

"And that little book of his, what is it?" the librarian asked. Patricia frowned.

"You mean his journal? Our Gran Gran gave it to him at the start of the summer. He's had other ones but this one is his 'Gravity Falls' journal." Patricia said with air quotes. Patricia looked up from the magazine when she heard what sounded strangely like some kind of toothy monster licking its lips. Patricia turned her head to the librarian slowly with a fear in her eyes.

"Well that's very nice deary. Call me if there's anything you need." the librarian said with a smile before she shuffled away. Patricia stared at her before she dropped her magazine and ran over to Ford.

"Ford… Ford… FORD!" Patricia shouted.

"SHHHHHH!" several people in the library shushed. Patricia just waved a hand in front of her brother he looked up and frowned at her scared face.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Patricia looked away from his face with a grimace.

"I think you're right." she muttered.

"HA!" Ford shouted happily pointing at her face.

"SHHHHHHHH!" the library patrons shouted angrily. Ford picked up the books and put them on a cart before he grabbed his journal and Patricia's hand. He picked up his umbrella at the door before the pair dashed out of the library. They didn't notice the Liberian stare after them. The pair walked down the street Ford was writing in his journal rapidly while Patricia held up the umbrella and listened to his theory.

"I think she might be some kind of lizard monster. There was this kind of Egyptian lizard that was said to take the form of an elder and provide young one with false advice to oomph!" Ford cried as he ran into someone.

"Easy there Fordsie!" Caesar said as he smiled down at the boy. Ford looked up.

"Mr. Caesar! Why aren't you at the bar?" Patricia asked. Caesar smirked.

"Mr. Caesar… huh. I like that. Maybe I'll get Dipper to call me that!" Caesar said as he threw his head back laughing. The pair looked at each other and back up to Caesar as his laughter died down and he wiped a fake tear from the corner of his eyes. "I close the bar during the day on Wednesdays. What are you two doing out here anyways? Aren't you deathly afraid of water?" Caesar asked Ford as he flicked the umbrella. Ford winced as a few droplets landed by his feet somehow.

"Dipper kicked us out. Sent us to the library." Patricia said. Caesar smirked.

"Ah the library. Such fond memories." Caesar said with a smirk. Then he walked past them "whelp! You best be one your way! Bye!" Caesar said before he walked off whistling swinging a cane around. The pair stared after him. Ford frowned as he realized that Caesar was completely dry despite the rain. He shook his head at the impossibility and took his glasses off to polish them. As the pair turned around Caesar was in front of them again. Ford jumped with yelp. "Oh by the way. You're right about the librarian." Caesar said before he blinked at them and walked away again. The pair stared off at him.

"How did he do that? Patricia asked. Ford shrugged. Then he smiled wide.

"Did you hear what he said?! I was right about the librarian!" Ford said excitedly. Patricia looked at him and frowned.

"I think you might be wrong though… about the lizard thing I mean… cause see what tipped me off is she seemed super interested in your journal… I think she licked her lips… it was really creepy." Patricia said before she shuddered. Ford frowned as he looked at his journal.

"We won't know what she is until we see her drop the facade." Ford murmured.

"How will we do that?" Patricia asked.

"I know a way… but we're probably going to get in a whole bunch of trouble…" Ford murmured. Patricia smirked.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Well we need a place to be tonight… a place where Dipper won't come looking for us." Ford said. Patricia cracked her knuckles.

"Piece a cake." she said with a smile. Ford raised an eyebrow.

* * *

"Have fun you two!" Dipper shouted from the door waving them off. Patricia waved happily while Ford stared at her in shock.

"What did you say to him?" he asked. Patricia smirked.

"I invented some kids that we're spending time at the arcade with tonight. We have until midnight. Is that good enough?" she asked. Ford stared at her in shock.

"Wow… and he believed you?"

"It's called a scam Ford. You need charisma." Patricia said with a smirk. Ford smiled before the pair ran off towards the library. When they arrived Ford smacked himself in the forehead.

"Oh I forgot! The library is closed now… how are we gonna get in?" he asked. Patricia tugged on his sleeve.

"I thought I saw a window that was stuck around the back. Ford smiled and they looked for the window. They found it and it was just wide enough that they could slip through. The pair dropped down into the dark library. Ford looked around before he flicked on a flashlight.

"This place is creepy." he whispered. Patricia looked around and nodded. Ford and she crept through the library slowly. "Where is she?" Ford murmured quietly.

"What are you dearies doing in here?" the librarian called from behind them. The pair whipped around and looked at the librarian from the end of the hall. Ford swallowed his fear and glared at her.

"Drop the act! We know what you are you monster!" Ford cried. Suddenly the woman's skin bubbled and slowly her mouth widened impossibly before a large grayish green slimy worm crawled out from her mouth. Patricia slapped a hand over her mouth while Ford stood there blinking "wow I was way off." he muttered. The worm creature gave an almighty shriek and Ford ran along with Patricia deeper into the library.

"WHAT DO WE DO FORD?!" Patricia asked in panic.

"QUIET IN THE LIBRARY DEARIES." the worm creature said roughly in the same raspy sweet voice of the librarian. Ford suddenly had a thought. He smirked and ran out from the behind the shelf.

"Hey worm! You want knowledge right?" he asked. The worm turned and stared at him with its blue bug eyes.

"YES." it said. Ford smirked.

"Yeah well there's this awesome think called the internet! You can get all sorts of information in it!" the worm made a few excited noises.

"HOW DO I OBTAIN THIS INFORMATION?"

"Through the cables of course." Ford said as if it was obvious. The worm smirked then rushed for the computers. Patricia blinked in shock as the pair watched the worm chomp on the power cables for the computers. Its body was racked with electricity while it let out a painful squeal. Finally it went still and lay on the ground smoking.

"You scammed it." Patricia said with a slight smile. Ford looked very proud of himself.

"That's because I'm the real deal." Ford said. Suddenly the smoke from the book worm's body set off the sprinklers. Ford screamed like a little girl and ran from the building while Patricia fell on the floor laughing. She walked out of the library after her brother. The body of the worm slowly dissolved away into a puddle of grayish goop like paper left in water too long. Above the puddle a voice chuckled.

"Heh… Xanthar owes me ten bucks."

* * *

Dipper looked up as the pair walked in. he glanced at the clock.

"You're early." he commented.

"The party was kinda lame." Patricia said as she wrung out her hair. Dipper frowned.

"Why are you all wet?" he looked at Ford how was also soaking and sniffling a bit before he sneezed. "You're both soaking… what happened?"

"Patricia pushed me in a puddle." Ford accused. He was still mad with her about laughing at him because of the sprinkles. She threw him a dirty look

"You pushed back!" she countered. Dipper groaned.

"Go up stairs and get into your pjs. Macaroni for dinner." Dipper said.

"Yeah!" the two said excitedly before Ford sneezed again and sniffled. Dipper laughed and ruffled the kid's wet hair before he went into the kitchen. They all had a good dinner. Ford had some cold medicine before bed. The next day when Dipper went down stairs and reached for the paper he blinked at the front page.

GRAVITY FALLS LIBRARY IN RUINS

Library burns down due to poor electrical work

'The fire could have started anytime' says fire chief

"Hey Grunkle Dipper what's up?" Ford asked as he and Patricia walked into the kitchen. Dipper stood and hugged his niece and nephew close.

"You are never going to a library again." he said with a horrified face. Patricia looked at Ford and Ford shrugged.

* * *

GSV KLDVI LU OVZIMRMT!

(LS NZM, R QFHG IVZORAVW R'N MVEVI TVGGRMT GSZG GVM WLOOZIH...)


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A/N: I would like to formally apologize to all of you for the long wait. Unfortunately my muse is both sentient and very mobile...

She also enjoys tormenting me.

This mean intermittent bouts of writers block...

I know...

'Great'

Anyways, enough of my excuses...

ONWARDS!

* * *

The dark clouds finally had parted to allow the sun to come gleaming down towards the towering pines as birds merrily sang a song to mark a beautiful day.

"PATRICIA!" Ford screamed as he ran after his sister with a livid face. The girl laughed and snickered as she ran through the Mystery Shack holding her brother's journal above her head with an evil smirk.

"Ha! I'm gonna read all your secrets to Mellissa! She'll never date you after that!" Patricia shouted with a laugh.

"AAARRRRGGGHHHH!" Ford roared.

"WAH!" Patricia cried as she ran from her now very frightening brother. They both ran past Dipper who flattened himself against the wall as the brother chased his sister with his hands outstretched like claws. They two dashed out of the Mystery Shack.

"GIVE IT BACK PATRICIA!" Ford cried with a deep red face.

"IN YOUR DREAMS!" Patricia cried. Suddenly her foot caught on a rock and her body was flung forward. The journal slipped from her fingers and bounced on the grass before it sailed through the air.

"MY JOURNAL!" Ford cried before the journal fell into a large hole. Above it on a rickety sign read the word Bottomless Pit.

"Oh no." Patricia whispered with a horrified face from the ground as she looked at her brother with fear.

* * *

Patricia slowly stood and walked up to her brother.

"Ford…. I am so so so sorry… I didn't mean-" Ford held up a hand and Patricia fell silent in horror. Ford groaned and slowly turned back towards the Mystery Shack. Patricia followed behind him wringing her hands in fear. Was he gonna tell Grunkle Dipper? Was he ever going to speak to her again? Her thoughts halted as she watched Ford bring a rope from underneath the porch.

"what are you doing?" she asked with a raised eye brow as she watched Ford tie one end of the rope to a tree near the Bottomless Pit before he threw the other end into the pit.

"Getting my journal back." Ford said with a roll of his eyes. Patricia grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm.

"Ford are you crazy? You can't just climb into a bottomless pit!" Patricia cried. Ford scoffed and pulled his wrist from her grasp.

"It is physically impossible for it to be actually bottomless Patricia. The laws of physics state as such" Ford said.

"Whatcha doin there son?" a southern accented voice called from behind the pair. They both shouted in alarm as they looked up at the thin maintenance man.

"Oh McGucket… just you… scared us pretty good… ha ha…" Ford said looking at the man. He wasn't laughing.

"I couldn't help but over hear y'all talking bout climbin into that there bottomless pit. I'm afraid I cannot condone that." McGucket said with a hard face. Patricia smirked.

"Thank you. See Ford I knew-"

"'least not alone. If yawl are certain, I can't stop ya. But ya can't stop me from goin down there with ya." McGucket ended with a slight smile. It was Ford's turn to smirk at Patricia who was staring at McGucket in fury.

"What kind of a responsible adult are you?!" she shouted angrily. McGucket merely directed Ford to the rope.

"After you." Patricia watched helplessly as her brother and this obviously absolutely insane old man climbed into the bottomless pit together.

"I am so telling Grunkle Dipper!" she cried after the pair. Suddenly she heard a munching sound and turned around only to yelp in alarm. Gompers was chewing through the rope tied to the tree. "Get away you stupid goat!" she tried to pull the goat away by its tail but it was too late. With a sharp snap the rope broke and Patricia failed to reach it before it slid into the bottomless pit. She leaned over the edge staring in horror for a few seconds before "GRUNKLE DIPPER!" she cried as she ran towards her Grunkle.

"As you can see this is rock that looks like a face rock, the rock that lo- Patricia?" Dipper paused as the auburn haired teen rushed in front of him.

"McGucket!Ford!BottomlessPit!Gompers!" Patricia stuttered out pointing towards the Bottomless Pit. Dipper smirked.

"Could you hold on for just a second." Dipper addressed the tourists before he followed his panicking niece with a knowing smirk.

* * *

As Ford and McGucket where climbing down the bottomless pit Ford felt a tremor in the rope.

"What was tha-" suddenly the rope snapped and he and Hadron began falling.

"AAAAAAHAHHHHHHH!"

"WWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" after a few seconds of screaming the two went silent. Ford looked around in horror.

"We could hit the bottom at any moment! It could happen any second!" he and Hadron both braced themselves for an impact that never came for a few seconds. Ford slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "This is just…"

"Weird? Welcome ta Gravity Falls. I've lived here ma whole life. Trust me. This is just the tip of a pretty big iceberg." Hadron said as he crossed his legs, flicked his wrists, put his hand behind his back and lounged in mid air. Ford looked at him flabbergast.

"What are you doing?" Ford asked. Hadron shrugged.

"Whelp I figure we'll be here fer a while. Might as well get comfortable." Hadron said. Ford gapped at him.

"You're insane." Ford said. Hadron frowned harshly and leaned forward.

"I would very much appreciate you not callin me that there word…" Hadron said harshly. Ford blinked and raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Well fer starters it's just not nice!" Hadron said with a roll of his eyes causing Ford to blush. "Fer another reason… well… my granddaddy was."

"Was what?" Ford asked in confusion.

"Insane." Hadron said.

Ford blinked for a few seconds then chuckled dryly."Ha… funny…"

But Hadron wasn't laughing. Ford stared "Wait you're serious?" he said and Hadron nodded gravely. "I… um...but… well I… I'm sorry." Ford stuttered out in embarrassment. Hadron waved his apology away.

"It's alright… I learned ta be proud of my grandfather." Hadron explained. Ford stared at him.

"How?" Ford asked. Hadron smirked and leaned forward.

"It all started a long time ago. I was a young man, fresh out of college, ready ta prove my worth… but I felt like my grandfather was a dark cloud holdin me back... "

* * *

A young blond man was hunched into one of the booths at Wendy's dinner. He was flinching as some of the local teens laughed as they spat spit balls at him.

"Go on! Shoo!" Wendy cried at the teens who all scattered as she walked by. She placed a small plate of pancakes in front of the man and smiled sadly. "Sorry 'bout that… didn't notice till now."

"'s aright." the man muttered under his breath still hunched up. Wendy frowned sadly but headed for a table that was calling for coffee refills. Two booths down a pair of teens popped up from the bench. One nudged the other and raised an eyebrow.

"Watch this." they whispered before they squirted ketchup across the space. It hit the young blond in the chest.

"Ack!" he cried before reaching for the bunch of napkins hurriedly. In doing so he knocked over his fresh coffee spilling the entire cup all over himself. "AW DONKEY SPITTLE!" he cried out in pain. There was absolute silence in the diner before everyone started guffawing in laughter. The two teens were roaring even as they high fived each other. The blond looked around before he quickly ran out of the dinner.

"Hadron!" Wendy called after him before she turned and gave her brother, who was also laughing, though he was trying to hide it, a very hard slap on the arm with a harsh frown. The blond meanwhile was walking through the town heading home. The townsfolk whispered as he walked passed making derisive comments about insanity and mental states. As he stood on Main Street he decided that maybe he should just forget for a bit. With that idea in mind he headed for the local bar. The piano music drifted from inside the Illuminati making his spirits rise a bit. But the second he stepped inside it stopped. The blond man at the piano was staring at him harshly. He jerkily stood before he walked over and slung an arm over the young man. But instead of feeling it as an amicable gesture for some reason the young man felt like he was being strangled and suffocated all at the same time.

"You're that McGucket guy right?!" the bartender asked with hard eyes and a strange voice. "I've been told I have poor social delicacy! so I have no shame in saying outright that I really don't like you!" the bartender said before he pointed to a sign that the young man was fairly sure wasn't there a few seconds ago that read 'WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYONE' "so make like Pine Tree and LEAVE!" the bartender finished harshly before the man somehow found himself outside the bar. He felt a push from a small round object in the center of his back that made him stumble into a nearby pile of trash. He stood and flicked something slimy off his sleeves before he pulled a fish head and spine out of his hair. Suddenly he sneezed.

"Aw no…" he murmured in defeat before he heard it.

"MEOWN!" the man slowly turned around to see at least a dozen cats all licking their chops. The man sneezed again before he turned and ran as fast as he could.

* * *

"Wait wait wait!" Ford interrupted. Hadron looked at him. Ford looked back skeptical. "I've met Caesar and he wasn't that mean. He was actually pretty nice. There's no way he would kick you out and push you into a pile of garbage."

"Well he did… and I will if you keep interrupting the story." Hadron said with crossed arms and a cross face.

"How? There's nothing in here." Ford commented. Then he noticed Hadrons' face and cleared his throat. "Right… continue."

* * *

The young man leaned against a tree heaving.

"This day… could not get… any worse…" he muttered sadly. He looked up and back the way he ran. "At least I got away from the cats…" suddenly the sky rumbled and opened up into a torrential rain. The man stood there, soaking for a few seconds before he roared with anger and kicked a tree. "AW POSSOM BREATH FIDDLE BANGOS THAT FLIPPIN HURT!" he screamed as he hopped up and down holding his foot with tears in his eyes. Suddenly he stopped and looked to his side. There was a goat standing in the middle of the road. The man stared for a bit before the goat closed one eyelid at a time then brayed and charged at him. The man screamed before he ran as fast as he could. Suddenly he tripped and was sure he was done for when suddenly a tall man was standing over him.

"GET! GO ON! Get out of here you silly goat!" the goat brayed before it galloped away. The man lay on the ground panting a bit when he noticed a hand reached out to help him up. He looked up at the man's kind face and shakily took his hand. As he stood he brushed himself off. "Are you alright?"

"'m fine." the younger man muttered. This was followed by a sneeze. The older man winced.

"Come on in. my wife just put the kettle on…"

"I's alrigh… I don need anthin." the young man muttered out quickly. But the man was already leading him into the strange house.

"I insist. What's your name?" the man asked with a smile. The young man wrung his hands before taking a deep breath and a big risk.

"Hadron FiddleFord McGucket." he murmured quietly. The man stopped and stared at him.

"... You're FiddleFord's grandson?" he asked. The young man blinked

"erm… yes… you knew my granddaddy?"

"He was an old family friend… the name is Dipper Pines… it's a pleasure to meet you." Dipper said with a smile and an out stretched hand. The young man stared at him.

"My granddaddy was insane." he commented lamely. The man laughed.

"Well yes, but he was also a genius." he said before he handed the young man a Pitt Cola. "And he was a very dear friend. I'd be proud to have him for a grandfather." he finished. The young man stared at him for a few seconds before he took a sip of his own cola. "He had a rough life FiddleFord… but he powered through… he was a good man in the end… and I'm glad to have met him… I'm sure folks around here still treat him badly… if only they knew…" the man trailed off. The young man said nothing as the older man continued to talk about all the things that he grandfather had done.

* * *

"And after a while of talkin ta yer Grunkle I realized that while my granddaddy was crazy as two loons in a barnyard he was also a brilliant scientist and an amazin inventor and I should be damn proud that I'm his grandson." Hadron finished with a smile. Then he frowned and picked something up as it floated up from below. "Is this yours son?" Ford laughed.

" My journal!" he said as he took it from Hadron. Hadron laughed a bit when he looked Ford up and down.

"I dare say you reminded me of someone my dad once told me about. He was a good friend of my granddaddy's." Hadron commented trying to remember what his father had said. Ford smiled.

"Well… maybe we can be friends?" Ford offered. Hadron smiled and offered his hand. Ford took it and smiled.

"Call me Hadron." Hadron said with a smile

"Call me a friend." Ford responded. Suddenly Hadron looked down and his face fell.

"I think our friendship will be short lived!" Hadron said. Ford looked down and yelped before the pair shielded themselves and screamed as they neared the bright white light.

* * *

"Grunkle Dipper! I don't think you understand! My brother is in a bottomless pit!" Patricia said angrily. Dipper just chuckled looking at his watch.

"Wait for it…" Dipper said holding up a finger. Suddenly Patricia frowned as she heard a faint screaming that was slowly growing louder.

"AaaarrRRGGGGHHH!" suddenly Ford and Hadron shot out of the top of the Bottomless Pit and landed on their butts on the grass. The pair looked around in shock.

"Wha… what?" Ford said in shock.

"Ford!" Patricia cried before he encompassed him in a tight hug with a relived smile. Her smile fell when she realized what she was doing and shoved him on the grass. "Don't ever do that again you idiot!" Dipper was looking at his watch laughing.

"Huh. Old girls getting a bit slow. Back in my day it only took her about six seconds to spit someone back out…" Ford stood and walked over to Dipper.

"What is that thing? Is it a wormhole? A time vortex? A black hole?" Dipper shrugged before he walked back over to the crowd of tourists. Ford stared at him with a confused and shocked face. As he stood there Patricia noticed what he was holding.

"Hey! You got your journal back… so were all good right?" Patricia asked. Ford turned to her and looked at her unimpressed before he shoved her. She stumbled and fell back into the bottomless pit. Ford stuck his journal under his arm and dusted his hands off walking away whistling.

Inside the Bottomless Pit Patricia was floating with her arms crossed angrily. She took out her phone and typed away for a bit before her phone blipped signifying no service.

"ARRRGGGH!" she cried angrily.

* * *

SVB TIZERGB UZOOH! HGZITZGV XZOOVW! GSVB DZMG GSVRI TRNRXP YZXP! KUUUG! YZSZSZSZSZSZ!


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Patricia was lounging on the couch typing away when suddenly Ford's shadow was looming over her. He was glaring down at her angrily.

"What did you do with it Patricia?" Ford snarled angrily. Patricia looked at him in confusion.

"What did I do with what?" Patricia asked. Ford growled.

"Don't play dumb with me! I know you took it!" Ford said angrily.

"What did I take?! I don't know what you're talking about!" Patricia said angrily getting off the couch. Ford glared in confusion.

"Well if you didn't take it who did?" he asked. Patricia rolled her eyes.

"You still haven't told me what's missing." Patricia said. Ford's accusing face gave way to anxiety when he realized that Patricia was telling the truth and she really had no idea.

"It's my journal." Ford said worriedly "it's gone."

* * *

Patricia followed Ford as he began frantically looking around the gift shop. "I put it on the counter and left for at most a minute and when I came back it was gone." Ford said as he looked around all the crevices of the cluttered gift shop.

"Maybe Ben saw something." Patricia offered. The teen was snoring away with his head on the counter. "Ben!... Ben! BEN!" Patricia shouted. The teen shot up like a bullet

"It wasn't me I swear!" he shouted groggily. Ford and Patricia looked at each other a bit while Ben wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"Heya little dudes… wassup?" Ben asked tiredly.

"Ben did you see anybody take my journal?" Ford asked hopefully. But he had a feeling he already knew the answer. Ben shook his head with a wide yawn.

"Sorry dude. I was totally out of it... I was out partying with Miss last night." Ben said as he took another big yawn. Ford blinked.

"Huh? Was it just you and Melissa? Were the guys with you or was it just the two of you… alone… hanging out?" Ford asked. Patricia rolled her eyes.

"Is there any way to know what happened to Ford's journal?" Patricia asked. Ben pointed up to the ceiling camera.

"Those security cameras run twenty four seven. I'm pretty sure the tapes are in Dipper office somewhere." Ben offered. Ford and Patricia looked at each other wearily.

"I don't know if Grunkle Dipper would want us poking around in his office…" Patricia said worriedly. Ben smirked and leaned.

"Well he's in a tour for the next two hours. I'm not telling." Ben finished with a wink. Ford and Patricia looked at each other before Ford frowned in determination and heading back into the house.

"Thanks Ben!" he called. Patricia looked after him and smirked and ran after him with a chuckle. As soon as the kids left Ben yawned wide and fell back asleep leaning back in the chair.

Ford and Patricia slowly pushed their great uncles office door open. The room was dim and kind of musty. Ford and Patricia quietly snuck into room feeling as if Dipper would walk in at any moment.

"Let's just find those security tapes and get out of here before we get caught." Ford muttered. With that he and Patricia began to rummage through Dippers drawers. They found meticulously filed tax forms, a large collection of BABBA cassette tapes, a framed blueprint for some kind of robot signed by supposedly the inventor and one very large spider but no security tapes. Patricia huffed and looked around before she notices something strange about the jackalope head mounted on the wall. She climbed up onto the beaten up leather recliner and pulled on the odd antler. With a whoosh the secret panel shifted from the wall. Both Ford and Patricia looked at in wearily.

"Okay… this is kinda creepy…" Patricia said before he looked at the various tapes around the TV. Ford meanwhile discovered a box underneath a pile of junk. As he opened the box a cloud of dust blew up into the twins face and they both sneezed. After the dust clear Ford reached in. he grabbed onto what felt like a visor of some kind. It appeared to be so Ford whipped his arm out quickly kicking up another cloud of dust. It turned out to be an old faded baseball cap, blue and white, with a blue pine tree on the front. Ford and Patricia looked at it before Patricia shrugged and Ford set it aside. further reaches into the box produced a small ufo keychain that lit up and made a noise when you pushed on the top of it, a fishing hat with the word 'DIPPY' stitched into it, though it looked as though the stitching had been fixed many times making the fabric around the letters threadbare, and a sweater that read 'inferior twin' "what is all this junk?" partita asked as she looked at all the different things in the box. Suddenly she gasped and reached into the box pulling out a tape but her face fell when she realized it was not the security tape. then she caught the title "'Mabel's promised super amazing love patrol alpha zombie free karaoke extravaganza do over' what?" Patricia asked with a confused but slightly amused voice. She looked at Ford and two of them nodded and put the tape into the player connected to the small TV. The TV was snow for a few seconds before the snow cleared.

"Is it recording?"A teen aged Mabel asked as she adjusted thee camera. Then she smiled and back away from the camera. She was standing beside Dipper who looked awkward and unhappy and some old guy who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, including a morgue, then where he was now.

"Mabel… really?" Dipper asked tiredly.

"You promised!" she said pointing at Dipper angrily. The old guy sighed.

"Let's just get this over with... "The old guys said tiredly.

"Hit it!" Mabel said happily to someone off the camera.

"Sure thing dude!" the person cried before a very upbeat poppy melody started playing. With a deep breath the twins watched as their grunkle started singing.

"Friday night, we're gonnn party till dawn, don't worry daddy I've got my favorite dress on." he ground out.

"we're rollin to the party the boys are looking our way, we just keep dancing we don't care what they say! And all the boys are getting up in my face!" Mabel sang happily. There was a few seconds of instrumental silence before "Grunkle Stan!" the old man huffed.

"Boys are a bore, let's show em the door." he sang with a gravelly voice that made the twins wince a bit.

WE'RE TAKING OVER THE DANCE FLOOR!" the trio sang together. "Oh-oh! Girls do what we like! Oh-oh we're taking over tonight! Oh-oh girls do what we like! Oh-oh we're taking over tonight! WE'RE QUEENS OF THE DISCO!" the trio sang happily now and the twins were laughing as even the old guys seemed to be enjoying himself despite his initial grumbling "oh-ho girls do what we like! Oh-oh we're taking over tonight! TAKING OVER TONIGHT!" with that the two twins began dancing around the sitting old man who laughed and rose up an arm to spin Mabel once. As the song wound down Mabel threw herself in the old man's lap. "THANK YOU! WE'LL BE HERE ALL SUMMER!"

"Deal with it idiots! Ahahaha!" the old man cried before laughing heartily.

"PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!" the trio cheered before the screen faded back to snow. Ford and Patricia smiled happily.

"Definitely something Gran Gran would do." Ford commented with a smile. Patricia nodded with a laugh.

"Oh yeah." Patricia said before he reached into the box again hoping for more lighthearted family fun. What she pulled out was anything but. In fact it was an obituary for the older man that had been singing with the pair.

"That was the lasts year he was alive?" Ford asked in shock. Patricia just nodded sadly as she read the rather nice obituary. She set it aside after a few seconds and reached into the box again. She found a folded up silk handkerchief with an NW embroidered on the front, a blank page torn from some kind of book, and a single brass knuckle.

"I don't think there's a remote in here." Patricia said in annoyance before she pushed the box over. Suddenly a whole flurry of papers burst out from a folder that had been at the bottom of the box. Patricia frowned as she picked some of them up. Suddenly she paled in horror. Ford looked at it with her and chocked.

 **PRESTON NORTHWEST FOUND DEAD**

 **Town Hero Dipper Pines Prime Suspect**

"Murder?! Grunkle Dipper can't be a murderer!" Ford cried as he looked at the article more closely. "Strangling? Prime suspect? Vicious attack? This can't be true!" Ford cried in horror.

"Ford…" Patricia said with a waver in her voice. Ford set aside the newspaper and looked at the one Patricia was holding. His mouth dropped open in horror.

 **FBI AGENT DIPPER PINES DEAD**

"This… this can't be right!" Ford cried as he read the article hurriedly. "If Dipper Pines died forty years ago then…"Ford and Patricia looked at each other. Patricia looked down at the sweater that was stitched by their Gran Gran and held it close. Ford stood and began pacing back and forth rapidly writing in his journal. Patricia simply sat on the floor holding the sweater for comfort suddenly she noticed a flashing under the shelf and reached under it pulling out the remote. Ford saw this and quickly flipped through the channels on the TV. The weirdest bit was it showed video surveillance from all over the forest and even a few places in town.

"This is… this is just creepy…" Patricia said in fear as they passed a channel that was watching their great aunt Wendy in the diner. Finally they found the channel where Ben was fast asleep.

"And rewind." Ford muttered. When he hit play again the pair watched as Ford walked into the gift shop.

"FORD! I RECKON I COULD USE YER HELP!" Hadron cried from outside.

"Coming!" Ford cried before he put his journal on the counter and dashed out to help Hadron. A few minutes passed and the pair watching the recording gasped. Dipper walked into the room. He was drinking a Pitt Cola taking his fez off and wiping his forehead.

"Ugh. I'm getting too old for this… how did Stan do It." Dipper grumbled. He suddenly dropped his Pitt Cola when he saw the journal on the counter. He seemed panicked and afraid. "How did this get here? If the kids saw this…" with that Dipper picked up the journal and quickly went towards the house.

"Dipper has my journal?! But why would he take it?! What was he worried about us seeing?!" Ford cried in anger. Patricia stood and put a hand on his arm.

"How bout… how bout we find your journal and then… then we just talk to Dipper… we ask him what all of this means... there has to be an explanation." Patricia muttered as she looked down at the newspaper articles and the various pictures that were in the folders, all of them dark and some incriminating. Ford looked at her and nodded. Then he frowned.

"But where did he put it? It's not in here, where would my journal be?" Ford asked. Patricia frowned.

"Well Dipper said to stay out of his room, maybe that's where it is." Patricia offered. Ford gulped before he nodded and held out his hand.

"Come on." with that Patricia took his hand and the pair exited the office. As they closed the door the papers were kicked up into a swirling storm. The blank sheet of paper was attracted to the TV's static and stuck to it. As it heat up it revealed a single eye in the centre of the page with a single line for a pupil.

* * *

UVZI GSV WVNLM DRGS QFHG LMV VBV


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Ford and Patricia slowly pushed open the door to their grunkle's room. It was kind of cluttered with books shelves stuffed to the brim. The place smelt like old paper and slight dampness. Dipper had a large double bed in the center of the room with pale blue sheets. He had lots of boxes scattered all around the room. The kids groaned a bit before they got down to it. They opened box after box. There were spare taxidermy parts, Halloween decorations, Christmas decorations, miscellaneous storage stuff really.

"Do you think all this junk was in our room?" Patricia asked as she opened up another box of decorations.

"It's possible. It is the attic." Ford said as he opened the closest and looked around. He zoned in on a box of contrabands but it turned out to be filled with the usual junk that a parent would take away from a kid and no journal. They discovered various strange things hidden around the room. A burnt up maintenance manual for some kind of pinball machine, a jar of what appeared to be teeth from some kind of herbivore, there was a single jewel earring and a few more pages that seemed to be ripped from an old book though these were bound with string and where covered in strange symbols. After the pair searched every nook and cranny of the room they admitted defeat.

"Maybe it isn't in here… where else would he put it?" Patricia said as she threw a strange flashlight off to the side.

"It has to be in here! It's not like there's another part of the house!" Ford huffed as he looked around frantically. Patricia looked over at the clock on Dipper's side table and gulped.

"Ford, Dipper will be done the tour soon. If he finds us in here…" Patricia trailed off. She wasn't sure what Dipper would do anymore. She thought she knew who her uncle was but thinking back to those articles. Patricia shuddered fearfully. Ford stood up from where he was looking under the bed and sighed in defeat.

"I guess you're right… maybe we should just..." Ford stopped as he spotted something on a small shelf next to a larger book shelf. Ford walked up to it and stared. It was a picture frame. The picture was of a middle aged blond woman with a pointy nose and a kind smile. She had small diamond earring on each ear, was perfectly posed, and looked rather kind. "Is this… Grunkle Dipper's wife?"

"She looks so nice… and pretty…" Patricia said with a smile. She reached out and tried to pick the picture up but frowned. "It's stuck!" she cried as she tried to pull it off the shelf.

"Wait!" Ford cried as he looked at the frame closely. "There's a hinge on the back of the frame!" he said. Patricia looked at him and the pair nodded at one another as the both flipped the frame down so the woman was looking at the top of the shelf. Suddenly there was sharp hiss and the pair jumped back in fright as the bookshelf slid to the side revealing a door. Ford and Patricia stared at it for a few seconds as Patricia clung to Ford tightly. Slowly Ford reached out his hand and opened the door. The pair slowly moved in and their eyes widened in horror. The room was covered in pictures, all covertly taken from angles that showed the people had no idea they were being photographed. On top of the pictures was a spider web of bight blood red string that crisscrossed all over the walls from floor to ceiling. In the center of the strange room was a desk that was covered in papers. Ford busily followed a few strings to other things while Patricia went to the desk. She whimpered in fear from what she saw. There were pictures of her and her brother on the desk. There were layers and layer all with notes. At the very bottom of the pile was a picture of her and her brother. Ford was circled in bright red several times and on top of it was a sticky note that read 'CONFIRMED'

"Ford…" Patricia called over in fright. Ford quickly abandoned his string following and went to the desk. He looked at all the pictures and picked up the one with the sticky note and frowned.

"'confirmed'... wait…" Ford quickly ran over to Ben's collection of photos on the wall and looked through all the picture before he smiled and pointed to a picture on the bottom of the stack. It too was circled repeatedly with a confirmed tacked onto it. "Look around see if other have it!" Ford commented as he began to look around. He found a blank space where a picture would have been with a sticky note that said confirmed. There was a single red string rising from it to the ceiling but Patricia called to him before he looked up.

"Hadron has one too." Patricia said lifting up a few picture to reveal the man much younger circled in red with the tell tale sticky note.

"There was one over there with no picture… what do Ben, Hadron and I all have in common?"

"Erm… you're all guys?" Ford rolled his eyes at Patricia. "You all come from families that started in Gravity Falls?" she tried again

"Hadron's grandfather was from California. So is Gran Gran" Ford reminded her. Patricia frowned in thought before he looked at the wall again and frowned.

"Look at this." she said grasping a single thread rising from Hadron towards the ceiling. The pair looked around the room and saw that others in town had the string going up, including their aunt and Tim's grandfather. Ford and Patricia slowly moved to the centre of the room and looked up. What they saw choked the words right out of their throats. Painted on the ceiling in what appeared to be blood was a large circle of symbols surround a strange creature. It was a triangle pyramid wearing a bow tie and top hat with a single eye in the center of its face. The children followed the red strings attached to each symbol down to seemingly random people that Dipper knew. Finally the pair followed the string that started from the pine tree. The string ended at the door frame so Patricia closed the door. What the pair saw made Patricia slap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. On the back of the door were photos of their Grunkle Dipper. The frightening part was the big red X that was drawn over top of the pictures in blood.

"We got to get out of here." Ford said in fear.

"What?" Patricia said in shock.

"Dipper isn't who he said he was! The whole town in being watched and Dipper is behind it! We can't stay here! We don't even know who this guy is!"

"But where will we go?! Everyone is being watched! Even the police!" Patricia said pointing to the pictures of Grenda. "And Gran Gran is part of this wacked out ritual! What are we gonna do Ford?!" Patricia cried in a panic. Ford looked around then frowned.

"Caesar." Patricia blinked.

"What?" she asked.

"CAESAR!" Ford exclaimed happily "He's the only person who isn't here! Come on!" Ford said as he opened the door. Patricia stood in the center of the room looking around lost and scared. Ford walked up to her slowly. "Hey." he said quietly. Patricia looked at him and Ford slowly smiled "It's… it's gonna be okay… okay?" Ford asked before he held out his hand. Patricia hesitated before he took it and together the pair fled the room. Ford and Patricia froze as they heard sounds below.

"He's in the gift shop with the tourists. We have to be quiet. Come on." Ford said as he motioned with his hand for Patricia followed. The girl chewed on her cheek worriedly as she and her brother crept down the stairs. Ford held her back at the door way to the living room. He peered in to see it empty and motioned for them to go. As soon as they were out of the Mystery Shack the pair ran for the trees. As they entered the forest Patricia stopped. Ford ran a bit farther before he looked back at her.

"Patricia! Come on!" he whispered with a harsh frown. Patricia bit her lip and looked back at the Mystery Shack one more time before she sighed and turned away and followed her brother through the towering pines into the shadows.

* * *

ULOOLD GSV XRKSVIH…


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ford and Patricia slipped into the graveyard and looked around.

"Maybe we can ask Lucy for help…"Patricia commented. As she said that Ford pulled her behind a tombstone with a hand over her mouth. He eyes widened in horror when she realised why. Robbie Valentino was heading their way. He had a shot gun slung over his shoulder with his usual grim and annoyed looking face. The twins sat silently as the elderly man walked by. When Ford though he was far enough away the pair dashed for another tombstone.

"We can't talk to Lucy, we can't talk to anyone!" Ford hissed before he pulled her out of the cemetery. They dashed from alley to alley. Eventually they made it to the park. Ford made sure it was empty before he began drawing a map in the dirt with a stick frowning heavily as Patricia moved over to the swing set. "Main Street is too busy right now… maybe we could… no that won't work… or if we… no." Ford muttered under his breath.

Patricia watched her brother mutter and mull over this plan and that plan as she swung slowly. She looked up at the sky and sighed heavily. How had all of this happened? This morning Grunkle Dipper had made her and Ford pancakes and ruffled their hair before he went to the tours. They were a perfect family. And in two hours all illusions had disappeared and the curtains had been pulled back. Patricia sighed again and stared sadly at the dirt. Suddenly a shadow fell over the ground as Ford settled in the swing beside her. "Hey…" he said quietly. Patricia wasn't sure how to respond and an awkward silence settled over them.

"Are we gonna be okay?" Patricia finally whispered worriedly. Ford swallowed as swung slightly letting the slight squeak of the old chain soothe his frazzled mind.

"As long we get to Caesar we'll be fine." Ford said with a certainty he didn't quite feel.

"That's not what I meant." Patricia said with an annoyed frown. Ford stared at her in confusion. "Oh forget it." Patricia said angrily as she stood and moved towards the water tower. "You're too nerdy and 'logical' to understand." Patricia huffed. Ford made an angry noise and looked up at the sinking sun. Eventually he stood and held out his hand for Patricia.

"Come on. We should be able to get to Caesar's bar without getting seen now." Ford said. Patricia took a deep breath but took her brothers hand and together they headed for the Illuminati. They had a close call when Ben and Mellissa nearly stumbled into pile of garbage the two had hid behind. Ford stared at them with an annoyed face as Ben put an arm on Mellissa's shoulders. "They're just friends." Ford said. Patricia pulled on his sleeve.

"Come on! We have to get to the Illuminati! Weren't you the one that said that we had to get there right away?" Patricia commented. Ford shook his head to clear it.

"right." with that the pair ran for the bar. They arrived at the back door. They could hear the sound of piano and patrons from inside. Ford took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Suddenly the piano stopped and in about four seconds Caesar whipped the door open with his fingers pointed in a gun shape out the door looking serious. He looked around before he looked down slightly. It was with that that a wide grin spread across his face

"Kitten Face! Other Ford! Whatcha doing here?!" Caesar asked with a smile before he swung his cane around a few times. Ford looked around nervously.

"We need your help." Ford said quietly. The twins didn't think it was possible but Caesar's grin seemed to get wider and his cane hit the ground with a resounding thud.

"That so?" he asked with a slightly ripple. Ford and Patricia both shook their heads when they heard that. When they looked back up Caesar was gone and the door was wide open.

"Out! Everyone! The bars closed! Good bye! See ya later! Come on let's go! Important family business!" Caesar said with a smile. His various customers grumbled as they were shoved out the door though Caesar did shove their various drinks into their hands. As soon as the last customer was gone he went back to the twins. "Come in." the pair entered the bar and Caesar closed the door. He bolted it and chuckled quietly with a sinister touch. "So!" Caesar asked as he walked past the pair and locked the front door. The two didn't notice a slight yellow sheen that covered all the walls, windows and the ceiling. "What's up?!" Caesar asked.

"Okay. What I'm about to say might be a bit hard to swallow but you have to believe me… I… we… think that Dipper is actually some kind of… demon." Ford said. Caesar stared at him for a few second before he burst into laughter. He fell into a chair at a table still laughing. He pounded the table a few times before he finally sighed merrily and wiped away a fake tear. Ford and Patricia stared at him grimly. That just seemed to make Caesar want to laugh more. But he held back and swallowed with a cough.

"What makes you think that?" Caesar asked, the mirth still held in his voice.

"we found this hidden room behind this book case in Dippers room, it was filled with all these creepy photos and there was this sort of ritual drawn on the ceiling and there was this box of creepy fake ID's and a news article saying Dipper was a murderer and another said that he was dead… it's all a little crazy to be honest." Patricia said running a hand through her hair. Caesar stood up and smiled down at them.

"That so?" Caesar asked with the ripple in his voice again. The children didn't notice the wall paper rippled slightly and the liquor on the shelf start to bubble and hiss slightly.

"What I don't understand is how no one noticed!" Ford said suddenly. He began to pace rapidly. "I mean there had to be signs! How could nobody notice that Dipper wasn't who he said he was?! How did Gran Gran not notice that her twin was a demon?!" Ford raved. Suddenly he gasped "he must have bewitched her! Or messed with her mind!"

"THAT SO?" Caesar said loudly with a wider than natural grin and yellow glowing eyes with a top hat pitched on his head. The floor boards had begun to ripple along with the walls as if some monster was being held just at the surface. The lights above them were slowly dimming down to darkness.

"Oh man what are we gonna do?!" Ford cried as he clutched his hair and paced in a panic. Patricia meanwhile was frozen in spot in terror.

"Ford…" she whispered fearfully. Ford stopped and frowned. Patricia slowly raised a shaking finger and pointed to something behind him. Ford turned and almost collapsed. Before him floated the very demon they thought they fled from.

"Ahahahaha! Ahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" bill laughed evilly. The twins whimpered and back up to the bar and stared at him in horror. Bill looked at them and his eye appeared to smile

 _"Your terrified faces are hilarious!"_

* * *

BLF KRXPVW GSV DILMT KOZXV GL SRWV, KRMVXLMV.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Dipper sighed heavily as he walked through the gift shop and into the living room. He sat there enjoying the silence after a good day when that thought processed through. Ever since the kids had arrived the Mystery Shack was never quiet. There was just a general buzz of noise. Dipper went to the stairs and listened for a noise.

"Kids? are you up there?" silence. Dipper swallowed and turned to the gift shop. "Ben… Ben… BENJAMIN!"

"A SQUARED!" Ben cried waking with a start. Dipper raised an eyebrow but ignored it.

"Have you seen the kids?" Ben gumpled.

"Erm… well…"

"Benjamin…" Dipper said warningly.

"I saw them a while ago, they were looking for Ford's journal." Ben admitted. Dipper frowned.

"His journal? but Ford never lets that thing out of his sight." Dipper commented thinking of a much older Ford with the same paranoid tendencies.

"Apparently he left it in the gift shop and when he came back it was gone." Ben said. Dipper froze.

"Where in the gift shop?" Dipper asked knowing and dreading the answer.

"Here on the counter." Ben said nonchalantly. Dipper dashed into the house and up the stairs two at a time. he rushed into his room and stilled in horror. the office door was left open. The sinister photo's blew in the draft and seemed to cast evil shadows all around. Dipper whipped around and ran back downstairs as he reached the bottom the phone in the kitchen rang. Dipper ran and picked it up quickly.

"Hello?" he asked, hoping to whoever would listen it was Patricia.

"Dipper! how's my favourite brother?" Mabel asked loudly. Dipper's heart chilled like ice.

"Oh… Hey Mabel." Dipper said before he nervously pulling on his collar.

"So hey, Patricia's phone is dead, can you get her and my grandson's butt over to the phone so they can talk to their Gram Gram?" Mabel asked with a grin in her voice. Dipper shriveled up in terror.

"Er… well, they're… busy." Dipper tried.

"Too busy to talk to their grandma?! come on Dipping Sauce, they're not teenager's for another two months."

"Well it's just… they're playing so nicely ya know… they're really starting to connect out here… I don't want to break them up just yet." Dipper lied. Mabel took the bait judging by the blubbering he could hear in her voice.

"I knew sending them off to Gravity Falls would help, it always does." Mabel said with a touch of reminiscing. Dipper held his breath. "I'll call back in a bit." with a click Dipper sighed in great relief. then he perked back up. "BENJAMIN!"

* * *

For a couple hours the teens of Gravity Falls were searching everywhere for the two children. Dipper was waiting at the shack nervously tapping his foot. Tim ran up to him.

"Please tell me you found them!" Dipper said worriedly. Tim bit his lip and shook his head. Dipper clutched at his hair in a panic. Suddenly the phone rang again. Dipper gulped and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked with a level voice despite the sheer ice running through his veins.

"Hey Dip Dop! Hoping I could talk to my grandkids now." Mabel said happily.

"Well… erm… they went out with some friends…" Dipper said.

"Really? But it's almost 5 out there." Mabel said quietly. Dipper swallowed.

"And?" Dipper asked

"it's Sunday Dipper." Mabel said with a slightly suspicious note.

"Well you know Gravity Falls…" Dipper started looking over as Ben arrived in his pickup and shook his head. He turned away now really and truly panicked. He had instructed Ben to go down every country road and every street and every trail through the forest and the town. That meant that the kids were either in the clutches of some monster or worse, kidnapped. "Sometimes they ignore those rules… anyways I need to make something for dinner. I'll call you back, bye."

"Hey! Wait a second!" Mabel shouted before Dipper hung up.

"Benjamin! lend me your truck!" Dipper cried before he climbed in where Ben had been and zipped off. As he whipped down the drive his cell phone rang.

"Dipper Pines! Don't you dare-" Mabel started.

"I'm driving I'll call you back." Dipper said quickly hanging up. He whipped through the town before screeching to a halt in front of the Illuminati. Mabel called again and Dipper took a breath and ignored her. he walked up to the door and frowned at the closed sign before unlocking the door and bursting in.

"Bill I nee…" Dipper trailed of straining at the scene before him. Bill was floating above his great niece and nephew who were cowering in fear at the demon.

"Pinetree! you made it! have I got a story for you! it's hilarious!" Bill cried wiping a fake tear from his eye. suddenly Dippers phone rang again he took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

"Dipper Pines so help me god if you ever hang up on me again I will castrate you! where are Ford and Patricia?! and don't you dare lie to me again!" Mabel screamed. Dipper calmly walked up to the two and help out the phone. Ford and Patricia looked between the two other occupants and took the phone.

"Hello?" Patricia said quietly.

"Patricia! are you okay?! what happened?" Mabel asked worriedly.

"Er…" Patricia looked around the room in confusion. Dipper closed the door again. Bill returned to human form and went behind bar and offered Dipper orange juice. "I have no idea." she admitted

* * *

SVOO SZGS ML UFIB ORPV NZYVO DSVM HSV'H ZMTIB.

* * *

A/N: sorry, little rusty, forgot the cipher... and its a funny one too!

-TTC


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Patricia rubbed her face as she continued to listen to Mabel worry.

"And you're sure you fine?" Mabel asked again in the process of putting her sweater and coat on and going to Gravity Falls

"Yes! Yes we're both fine!" she turned the phone to Ford "Tell Gram Gram you're fine!"

"Am I?! I don't know! Is the Illuminati real or am I trapped in some kind of nightmare?!" Ford asked with a hand to his face.

"Ahahaha! the parallels!" Bill cried before he fell behind the counter laughing.

"Bill! Cut it out!" Dipper cried leaning over the counter to glare at him. Patricia watched this all very lost and confused.

"Look! We're fine! You don't have to come up to see us!" Patricia cried. Mabel paused then smirked.

"Are you sure?" she asked stepping into her elevator and pushing a button.

"Yes! I'm sure! Look I'll call you back okay Gram Gram? I just… someone has a lot of explaining to do." Patricia said suddenly turning to Dipper angrily. The man looked surprisingly sheepish considering he was being stared down by a twelve-year-old. Mabel chuckled on the other line.

"Give him hell for me Sweetheart." she said as the elevator opened to her parking garage of pink limos.

"With pleasure." Patricia said gravely before she hung up and glared at Dipper. the man sighed.

"Guess I should start explaining huh?" Dipper reasoned

"Yeah but where to start." Bill put in leaning on his fist with a big grin enjoying all this chaos a little too much.

"Well I… uh…" Dipper paused for a moment then sighed. "You have to understand, I was your age when I learned all of this myself… there's gnomes, and shapeshifters, aliens and time travel, gremgoblins, and twins, and dream demons; prophecies, and zodiacs, and the end of the world. Unicorns and body swapping carpets and portals in the basement… and zombies… lots of zombies…" Dipper took a moment to look down and saw two very unimpressed pre-teens and a smirking dream demon. "Look everything I am about to tell you is true… and while it might seem a little farfetched to be real, rest assured, there's a perfectly logical explanation."

"You wish." Bill said with another grin. Dipper glared at him.

"You planned this didn't you?"

"Oh no, but I am enjoying the fallout!" Bill said as he turned back into a triangle and spun his cane around happily. He noticed that Ford was looking at him nervously and suddenly split into three with massive teeth, a dozen arms and a tongue lolling out. the boy shrieked and fell off his chair in panic and Bill cackled in glee.

"Oh man! That never gets old!" He said wiping away a fake tear. Dipper reached over and flicked him in the eye. "OW! OW DAMMIT! WHY PINETREE! WHY!"

"Quiet! Now… It all began when our parents decided we could use some fresh air…"

* * *

"And Bill has been running this bar ever since. And I've been making sure that Gravity Falls doesn't discover that the very thing that almost destroyed the world serves them drinks on the weekend." Dipper finished. Ford was scribbling away rapidly then he paused.

"So wait… your great uncle was named Ford?" he asked.

"Right you are Fordsie junior!" Bill said ruffling the auburn-haired boy's hair. "He was a nerdy weirdo too!" Ford glared at him and straightened his hair, annoyed.

"So wait, there was a giant portal into a nightmare dimension in your basement the whole summer and you didn't know?" Patricia asked with a slight smirk.

"Yeah… I find it depressing too. I spent the whole summer trying to figure out all the weirdness and the ultimate answer was literally under my feet the whole time." Dipper said admitted leaning back and looking wistful.

"So wait, that creepy room with all the pictures, what is that all about?" Ford asked. Dipper paused then took a breath and turned his chair to the pair fully.

"Ford… you remember the prophecy I mentioned." Dipper asked.

"Yeah, you said it was the only thing that could… destroy Bill." Ford finished thoughtfully.

"I use that room to keep track of the people who, if banded together, could complete the circuit and form the zodiac. There are always ten after all. And several of the members of my time are long dead. Benjamin is the question mark and Hadrin the eyeglasses. You Ford are the six-fingered hand." Dipper said with a smile. Ford stared at him.

"Me? But... " Ford looked down at his hands frowning.

"They're not literal Ford. It's symbolic. The six-fingered hand indicates an affinity to the unusually. A curiosity for the things that shouldn't be. The question mark similarly refers to an individual with an unknown destiny. Some are a little more difficult to interpret than others, such as the llama, or the Simitar." The twins suddenly picked up on a tension emanating from Bill, like he was holding something back. Ford barely perceptively looked back and noticed that Bill was drumming his fingers on his cane. "But some are much easier to explain, such as the scholarly eyeglasses, or the passionate bleeding heart, or the ever imaginative shooting star." Dipper finished with a grin. The twins instead began to sweat as the tension Bill was holding back exploded into a heavy cloak of annoyance. the pair shuddered a bit. Ford shook it off and spoke up.

"Yeah but that doesn't explain the big x over your pictures and the creepy mural on the ceiling! in blood no less!" Ford complained

"Actually that's ketchup." Dipper infected.

"Well its- wait what? Ketchup?" Ford asked confused.

"Yes… I ran out of paint. See, it's actually a magical privacy seal, it's keyed into the family so that anyone with Pines blood sees the true room, otherwise it looks like a regular office… There's one in this room right now." Dipper explained and with a snap of his fingers Bill revealed the elaborate design on the ceiling and the big X on every visible door. "You need to put the zodiac on the ceiling and the x on all the doors, I forgot about it at first and put my Cipher graph up without thinking. my pictures were in the way unfortunately… and given the box downstairs I can understand the fright I must have caused you. History repeated itself really. Grunkle Stan is probably laughing at me right now." Dipper said with a slight chuckle.

"This happened before?" Patricia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep. Almost seventy years ago. My great uncle Stanley was a state hopping scam artist. He changed his name everytime he moved to a new state so he had a huge collection of fake ID's… mine were for my undercover ops." Dipper clarified for the children's raise eyebrows.

"So… just the wrap-up… you're Dipper Pines, Ceaser is a demon named Bill, our family made a deal with him-" Ford summarized

"Several." Bill said with a grin and a wink at Ford. Dipper growled.

"Bill…" he said with a warning tone.

"Alright alright." Bill said batting his hand but not really listening. Ford looked at the demon then continued.

"And now our family is in charge of making sure he's left alone…"

"Yep. 'Cause who knows what I'll do if I'm threatened?! Maybe I'll cause the end of the world! or turn the world into an egg that was a favorite Fordsie idea of mine." Bill commented before he started absentmindedly wiping tumblers and whistling. Dipper looked at his watch.

"It's getting late kids. And if I remember anything from my own time I bet you guys are pretty tired. I left Ben's truck running outside. Let's get home." Dipper said before he beckoned at the two as we walked out the door. The twins got up and followed.

"Hey kid!" Bill called to Ford. The boy looked back "Anytime you need a favor-" The demon's right hand and eyes glowed ominously bright blue "You know where to find me." The boy looked at him wearily but turned away without comment.

"What was that about?" Patricia asked as she climbed into front seat at Dipper's admittance. Ford climbed in beside her.

"Nothing." Ford said quietly "Just… nothing" He finished as the trio headed back to the Shack.

* * *

25-15-21 6-15-18-7-15-20 19-15-13-5-20-8-9-14-7 16-9-14-5-20-18-5-5…


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Dipper was sipping his drink minding his own business when suddenly his eyes were covered and ropes were strung across his chest.

"Whoever you are I have several interdimensional guns and a demon on speed dial." he threatened angrily.

"Say what now?" Timothy Gleeful asked in confusion

"Thanks, Tim!" Patricia said quickly as she pushed the teen away in a slight panic. The teen stared then shrugged and walked away. With that, Patricia reached up and ripped the blindfold off. Dipper looked unimpressed as he squirmed a bit and suddenly the ropes fell down.

"You've got to get up a lot earlier than that kids," he said as he got up and walked away.

"Sorry," Patricia said quietly.

"Huh?" Dipper asked, then with a bang everything faded to black.

* * *

Dipper came to with a groan and looked down. he was duct taped to the TV chair, while his niece held a bag of ice to his head.

"Sorry!" Ford said worriedly. "I didn't mean to hit you so hard! I just wanted to daze you a bit… "

"Was that my non-stick frying pan?" Dipper asked in slight confusion.

"Er… I washed it?" Ford offered. Dipper groaned. ever since the Bill... incident the kids had been trying to get him to tell them the full story. they wanted to know about his wife and his child. he had avoided them to the best of his ability. That's when they started trying to catch him off guard and force it. they had been unsuccessful until now.

"Alright… alright… I'll tell you…" Dipper said tiredly, already dreading what was to come. the pair excitedly sat down in front of him and waited. "Can you maybe untie me first?" the pair looked unimpressed. Dipper sighed. then took a deep breath. "You remember how I told you the story about the ghost of Northwest Manor. and how the daughter made peace with the ghost and saved her family name?"

"Yeah," Ford said flipping back to that section of his journal and reading it rapidly.

"That girls name was Pacifica Northwest… and I married her." Dipper said bluntly. the pair looked at him in slight shock.

"But… I thought you hated her?" Patricia said in confusion. Dipper chuckled a bit.

"Yes well… we both grew up. I was in my thirties when we married. I ran a private investigations firm out of California for a while… then in my forties my uncle Soos passed away. we both wanted to keep the Mystery Shack in the family so I brought my wife and my son back to gravity falls. stan was… amazingly gifted. I think he might have been smarter than Grunkle Ford, to be honest." Dipper said thinking of his son again for the first time in years. He couldn't keep that sad smile creeping onto his face. then he frowned a bit. "But… he wanted to spend all his time playing rock music and shirking his responsibilities. We fought often about when his plans were after high school. he wanted to travel and see the world… and I just wanted him to have a stable future… he left on his eighteenth birthday. Got on his… well, my" Dipper amended sounding a bit annoyed "motorcycle and drove away… I haven't seen or heard from him since." Dipper finished with melancholy. the twins before him looked worried.

"And Pacifica?" Ford asked, wary of the answer. Dipper sighed.

"She left me just a few years later… she blamed me for pushing Stan away… and the worst part is she was right." Dipper choked out as he tried to hold back the rough lump in his throat. "I was a terrible father," Dipper said wearily as he swallowed roughly. the twins looked at each other before Ford cut Dipper free. The old man stood slowly "I… I need some…" he didn't finish his thought as he climbed the stairs. the twins remained in the living room silent for some time.

"We have to fix this," Patricia said seriously.

"How can we? Dipper son hasn't spoken to him in almost twenty years!" Ford said hopelessly.

"But what about his wife?" Patricia asked.

"Well… I suppose if she left them they must have had some contact for a bit but only a close friend of Dipper would…" he trailed off as both had the same idea.

"Caesar!" they both shouted with wide grins. then they frowned.

"Is it just me or have we been more psychic all summer?" Patricia asked.

"I'll look into it later. Ford said jotting down a note before he closed his journal with a snap. " let's go."

* * *

Bill was leaning on the bar top looking around at the empty bar and sighed. he hated Mondays. People never came on Mondays. As his eyes slowly drifted closed in sheer boredom the door suddenly banged open.

"Caesar! I mean Bill! I have something to ask!" Ford said quickly as he ran up to the demon.

"Hold it!" Bill yelled as a wide grin spread across his face. "A question you say? Well, I know the answer… for a price." he said as his eyes suddenly burned electric blue. Ford suddenly froze and remembered who he was talking to. This was a demon. A monster who demanded payment. "Sound to me like you need some help… the question is are you willing to pay to get what you want?"Bill asked as he put a finger on Ford's forehead. the young auburn haired boy suddenly gulped.

"Hey!" Patricia called from the door. She smacked Bill's hand away. "The only one who picks on my brother is me." She said with crossed arms and frown at Bill. Both Ford and the demon stared at her flabbergasted. Then Bill smirked.

"Yep! definitely Shooting Star's grandkids. Alright alright." Bill said as he held his hands up in surrender. "But I still need something in return," he said with a smirk. "How 'bout this," he said as his disguise melted away and the triangle floated around the pair menacingly. "I won't just tell you what happened to Pacifica I'll take you to meet her. In return, the next time I need something done, you'll help me out. Call it a favor." Bill said with a sinister touch. The pair uncertainly looked at one another. Before Patricia stepped forward.

"Leave Ford out of this," she said. Bill looked at her feigning interest. "I'll do your favor. That's our offer."

"What are you doing?" Ford hissed at her. Patricia ignored him.

"Do we have a deal?" she asked. the demon eyed her for a second before his expression changed to a smile.

"Fine," he said before he stuck out his hand, now coated in menacing looking blue fire. Patricia hesitated for a moment before she took his hand and shook it. the flames traveled to her hand and as she pulled away they collected on her palm before there was a flash and a blue Bill glowed on her hand for a moment before it faded away to nothing. Suddenly Bill cracked his knuckles with a flex. "Alright then! Let's just this party started," he remarked before he snapped his fingers and the three of them disappeared in a flash.

* * *

14-15-20-8-9-14-7 9-19 6-18-5-5…


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